


Ghost King Meets Batman

by Sparrow2020



Category: DCU, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Riordanverse, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Adoption, Alfred Pennyworth is the Best, Angst, Batfamily (DCU), Breaking the Fourth Wall, Bruce Wayne Tries to Be a Good Parent, Bruce Wayne is Batman, Camp Half-Blood (Percy Jackson), Camp Jupiter (Percy Jackson), Crossover, Damian Wayne is Robin, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Fanfiction, Gen, Good Sibling Dick Grayson, Hades is tying to be a good parent, Hurt Nico di Angelo, Jason Todd is Red Hood, Nico di Angelo can Draw, Nico di Angelo has ADHD, Nico di Angelo has Dyslexia, Nico di Angelo is Ghost, Nico di Angelo-centric, No Romance, Tartarus Arc, Tim Drake is Red Robin, Young Justice - Freeform, consultant Nico di Angelo, no ships, pjo/hoo, poison ivy is motherly, the joker is a jerk, wattpad original
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 05:07:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 66,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29484183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sparrow2020/pseuds/Sparrow2020
Summary: This is the original work from Wattpad and I am the original author. If I am posting this here, It means that I was forced to leave Wattpad when they sold to Naver. If there is a big enough demand, I will post the full work (up to the current updates) on this site as well, just let me know.Basically, this is a crossover between PJO and DCU centering around Nico di Angelo. Nico di Angelo gets adopted by Bruce Wayne and joins the Batfam. He learns their secrets and they learn his. Nico gains a family and starts to understand what it feels like to actually belong somewhere before Percy disappears and things start going downhill fast.This will follow the original plotline of the BoO books and does cover Tartarus. This is not a graphic fic and there are trigger warnings for anything that might need one. Thanks for checking out my story! Please let me know what you think! Please be nice, I started it in 2017 and I had just begun to develop my skills at the time. I am editing as I go, so if things are different from what your remember, that is why.Everything belongs to Rick Riordan and the creators of the DC Universe.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Artemis Crock/Wally West, Calypso & Leo Valdez, Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Jason Grace/Piper McLean
Comments: 93
Kudos: 117





	1. Gotham Cemetery

[The story is from Nico's point of view with some awkward accidental switches in there because I suck]

Nico felt like an idiot. He left Camp Half-Blood using his preferred method-- shadow travel. His intended destination had been his room at his father’s palace in the Underworld, and this definitely wasn’t it unless Hades had done some major redecorating since he had visited last. This seemed to be the surface world still since it was loud and awake-- the very thing he was trying to escape. He just wanted to be alone. Was that too much to ask? 

He couldn't tell where he was by his surroundings-- it looked just like any other city to him. Granted, he hadn’t been to very many cities that he actually had time to pay attention to the scenery. He was sure that most cities didn’t feel this… sinister, though. There was something very dark about this city, and he just couldn't put his finger on what it was. As he stood, surveying the filth and the haze of the pollution-filled sky, it hit him. This city reeked of death.

Nico walked out of the alley he had landed in and spotted a cemetery across the street. It seemed that the fates didn’t completely hate him after all. He knew he'd be able to protect himself surrounded by the dead. The cemetery was his best bet. As much as he wanted to spend time being angry with himself over his inability to do anything the simple way, he had to protect himself first. He pushed his self-loathing off for the time being and made his way across the street. 

No one even spared him a glance as he climbed over the fence. He skillfully hauled himself over the barrier and dropped to the ground on the other side with a soft thump. Nico looked around to see if there was a guard or something around before moving further into the cemetery. He didn't want to deal with the law at the moment if he didn't have to-- after all. Based on the condition these graves were in, there hadn't been proper management for a long time. It was disappointing to Nico because he knew better than almost anyone else that there were still souls attached to those graves. 

He kicked a pinecone with a shoe telling himself that this was all his fault because he had tried to take a leave of absence. He had just wanted to get away for a little while because the summer campers were starting to move back in and things were getting crowded. The extra people brought extra rumors, and the stares got worse. Their gazes felt like they wanted to dissect him. There were also the whispers that they thought he couldn’t hear. The feeling of being on the outside looking in, even in conversations that he was actively involved in.

They had been interested in him once, but the amazement of the Titan War was long gone, and everyone slowly forgot how he helped save the day. Nico hadn't expected to be worshipped, but he also hadn't expected for them to go back to avoiding him entirely, either. In retrospect, he should have known that nothing had fundamentally changed about his status among them. He was not guaranteed their respect, only their tolerance. It sucked, but that's the way of the world.

He guessed they remembered how he could reanimate corpses and speak to the dead. Powers that were taboo in hundreds of cultures all across history. He couldn't really blame them for wanting to keep their distance. It was human nature to avoid death, after all. Maybe he should be concerned for the people who had stuck around. The only ones that stayed were the ones who had powers that rivaled his own-- deadly and awe-inspiring powers. Like Percy with his ability to create his own personal hurricanes or earthquakes or Thalia who could summon lightning at will.

The rejection was a hard pill to swallow so he had decided that it was better to be alone. After all, he had done well for himself for the most part. Minos doesn't count. Nico had been young and impressionable. He'd done everything for him, unknowingly helping him with his scheme to exchange a soul for a soul and finally get revenge on Daedalus. The only things Nico had gotten from Minos were trust issues and a greater knowledge of his abilities. It hadn’t all been for nothing, at least.

As he walked through the unkempt cemetery, he felt strangely drained. He didn't know how far he had traveled, but it had really taken a lot out of him. It felt as though each limb weighed twice as much as it normally did, so it took twice the effort to do anything. He'd have to find somewhere safe to rest for a while before he tried to shadow travel again. He had no idea how many jumps he could make in a row before it was too much, and he wasn't eager to find out. 

The son of Hades took out a square of ambrosia and bit off the corner. It tasted like his mother's homemade apple pie-- a little taste of home. It was his favorite comfort food when he was a child, though Maria had always saved it for special occasions. However, his mother had seemed to find most occasions special; she was funny that way. Nico remembered how much she celebrated life every day. She treated every day like a gift and vowed not to waste it. Somedays missing her almost killed him.

As he looked at the writings on the gravestones, a flash of fear went through him. He stumbled up to the nearest grave and tried to decipher the inscriptions. His exhaustion and his dyslexia made it almost impossible to read what was on the stones. Luckily, the inscription at least seemed to be in English. That was a huge relief. He had no desire to find himself back in China anytime soon. The culture shock was real.

"Ok, so not China." He muttered under his breath. He settled down in front of the grave. He put his head on his knees to try to suppress the incoming headache from the failed shadow jump. Nico took a deep breath, trying to figure out what to do. He went through the survival checklist of what he had to work with. It wasn’t much. He hadn't taken much from camp-- not having much in the first place. He had never stayed anywhere long enough to have the chance to be materialistic.

He didn't know where he was and had nowhere to stay for the night. He also didn't have money to pay for a hotel or to send an Iris Message-- not that he would have either way. He wasn't old enough to rent a room and there was no one he wanted to IM. Spending the night in the cemetery didn't sound all that appealing, but he figured that he'd have to make do. It wasn’t like he had much of a choice. He'd look around in the morning and see where he was and whether or not he could shadow travel home. It was late afternoon as it was. He was in for a long night.

He didn't really know how long he just sat there in that position, but eventually, the silence and the heat of the day made it hard for him to stay awake. In an effort to not fall asleep, he moved back into the shadows of the building that he now realized was an ancient mausoleum. He was going to try to figure out where he was, but he drifted off, feeling safe being in the center of his element. Someone would be crazy to attack the Ghost King in a cemetery. 

Late that night, he was awoken by the sounds of receding footsteps, whispering, and shovels cutting through dirt. For some reason, he felt an indescribable amount of rage. The rage helped to wake him up and, when I was able to think properly, he could recognize that these emotions were not his own. However, that left him to wonder whose feelings they were. The idea of sharing feelings with another person had always freaked him out. It sounded annoying and confusing-- a design flaw.

After a couple more minutes of trying to find the source of the signals with his deathly powers, he could tell that the feelings were from a spirit whose grave had just been disturbed. The woman, Mavery Johnson, was giving the people who stood by her grave an ear full. Not that they could hear her. Mavery was going on and on about how the men were going to go to hell in a handbasket and that their parents should've tanned their hides more often when they were kids. Her screeching voice was enough to make Nico want to gouge out his eardrums. The son of Hades decided to make it his personal goal to somehow get her to shut up. 

Before Nico could make a move towards the grave robbers (mainly to make Mrs. Johnson shut up), a dark and foreboding voice called out to them. He nearly laughed, I didn't have access to tv, but even I knew that this was a really cliche scene from a spy movie of some sort. If this man knew he was being cliche, it didn't reflect in his voice.

"Haven't you ever heard of letting the dead rest in peace?" The man said in a not-so-questioning tone. His voice was deep, almost gravelly, though it didn't sound like a smoker's. More like a smooth rumbling sound. From his place by the mausoleum, he couldn't see the speaker. Nico took the risk of moving into a standing position, finding it difficult as his muscles were stiff from disuse and the cold night on the ground. It hadn't been his intention to fall asleep, but hey... with great power comes the need to take a nap.

By the time he'd gotten to my feet, the braver of the two robbers had started to speak, "...man I-I don't think they will miss it none." He said shakily. As he was shifting, he had missed the first part of the first word, but Nico figured it didn't matter too much. As the robber spoke, the souls of Mrs. Mavery called him every curse word she knew. She called him a sissy, a no-good thief, a coward, and a couple of other things that would make all the modern-day teenagers laugh hysterically. Though he was no modern teenager, and in his opinion, she had given it right to 'em. It was unfortunate that they would never know.

"Drop the loot and fill up that hole or go to jail. Your choice." The foreboding voice responded, unimpressed. Really, an ultimatum? Not even an interesting one at that. Whoever this guy was, he didn't seem overly scary to him, just some dude in the shadows. However, some dude in the shadows could move mountains if no one called his bluff. Nico spoke from experience.

"Right away!" The first thief said again. The next thing he heard was shovels working furiously to replace the disturbed soil. I felt the soul of Mrs. Mavery thanking someone she called The Caped Crusader before her spirit returned its consciousness back to the underworld. Nico couldn't help but wonder who would call themselves a Caped Crusader. It sounded a little lame to him. The demigod hadn't heard the Caped Crusader leave, but he could hear the two men talking in hushed tones, so he assumed that he had gone. Too bad, Nico had been interested in maybe catching a glimpse of this mystery dude. He briefly wondered if the mystery man actually did wear a cape. Then his mind went off on its own little tangent about how annoying it must be to wear a cape.

Nico backed himself further back from the robbers so that they didn't stumble across him as they left. By this time, he was thoroughly frozen and he wanted to warm up. Nico still hadn't the slightest clue of where he was, and he knew he would have to go into the death-soaked city to find answers. The son of Hades, with his great judgment, decided to take a walk through town. Had he known just where he had landed, he would've reconsidered.

Nico snuck his way around the grave robbers towards the edge of the cemetery, looking for the way out. He pulled my aviator's jacket close to his body and shivered to preserve what little warmth he had. He was hardly ever warm-- even in summer. It was almost as if his body didn't produce heat. When people felt his cold skin, they usually figured that he didn't feel the cold. It was actually just the opposite.The Apollo campers told me that it was because I didn't eat enough, but Nico wasn't too sure. He could put away several happy meals in one sitting then go a week with nothing. When one fended for themselves, you ate when you could, and as a demigod, he knew not to eat too much in case of a battle.

He trudged, shivering, to the front gate where he quickly hauled himself over the fence, landing virtually silently-- call it a super power. Choosing a direction at random, he continued his exploration of the city, finding it odd how little foot-traffic there was, even at this hour. Nico traveled down several separate streets, changing directions on a whim. As he walked, he began to get the feeling that someone was watching him. Nico's demigod training kicked in, and his senses went on overdrive. He couldn't hear anything or sense another person nearby, but he had been through enough scrapes to trust his instincts. Being a demigod child of a powerful god, Nico naturally assumed that it was a monster of some sort.

He quickened his pace and kept his hands in his pockets, where he kept his backup weapon, a 6-inch silver dagger, disguised as a tourist minted coin with the Roman colosseum engraved on the front. If anyone were to see it, they would merely think that he'd been to Italy. He held the coin firmly in his palm, waiting for something to jump out at him at any moment. A sword wouldn't be of much use in such close quarters anyway. He passed a shop on the corner that read Downtown Gotham Post in big, bold letters. That's when he got a sinking feeling in his stomach. He was stranded in the worst city in America, with someone stalking him. With his luck, it could be Scarecrow or even the Joker. He just hoped that it wasn't the Riddler-- he would be dead before he could figure out the answer to anything he asked.

Nico clung closer to the buildings, hoping that the shadows would help to hide him. He kept moving-- not really knowing what else to do. Every once in a while, he would stop to pull his coat around himself or to sneeze. He vaguely hoped that he wasn't coming down with something. The last thing he needed was to get a cold that drained his energy and made him vulnerable. Plus he'd never hear the end of it from Demeter who would insist that he needed to eat more grains or something like that. 

He walked another block. There was one of Gotham's banks at the end of this street, right across from a run-down drug/convenience store. Right before he even reached the end of the street, the alarms in the bank went off, and a group of 3 dudes wearing a lot of face makeup ran out into the street. This night was certainly turning out to be entertaining if nothing else.

It only took him one glance to know that these were some of the Joker's lackeys. Nico started to back into the small space between the bank and the apartment complex, but as fate would have it-- he stepped on a beer can with a loud crunch. He looked sharply towards the Joker's goons to see if they had heard it. Unfortunately, they had and were starting to walk towards him slowly, in a threatening manner. They were all tall, 2 of the 3 were beefy, and the third was slim, but he looked odd, with a lot of muscle in his shoulders and virtually none in his legs. He made for an odd sight, though he didn't stay to ponder it for long.

He wasn't about to stay and try for a diplomatic solution-- the demigod turned and ran back the way he came just as fast as he could. Could he beat these guys? Sure! You know, if he had a sword that worked on mortals and he hadn't recently made a failed shadow jump. He cursed himself as he ran through the quiet streets of Gotham City. So fighting wasn't an option so he would just have to hope that he could outrun them. Fat chance. 

Nico took turn after turn at top speed, the thugs slowly falling further and further behind. he prayed silently to every god and goddess He could think of to help me escape. He must've offended someone because the next corner he took led me to a dead end. he pivoted on my heels to go the other way, but the thugs hadn't been as far back as he had thought and had blocked his escape. Nico backed up until his back had nearly hit the wall. He wasn't a match for 3 beefy goons with weapons, he was about to get mugged, and he knew it. The thought made him really angry, he had survived so much in the past year, and now he was going to be beaten and/or killed by a bunch of mortals. The shadows swelled around him so subtly that he almost didn't notice. Almost.

Nico gritted his teeth as he sized up the men in front of him. He was gonna die for sure. He shivered mostly from the cold and excess adrenaline. Nico was scared, though he would never admit it. People were sometimes the worst monsters of all.

"So kid, what is a little boy like you doing out alone in Gotham? Don't you know that it isn't safe?" Said...Charlie. For some reason, the thug seemed like a Charlie.

"No one mentioned it." He deadpanned. The only response he got was a cold sneer.

"Well, consider this a free lesson in Gotham street smarts." The next guy... maybe a Kevin said. He and the other two guys started to move closer. Nico braced myself against the wall-- this was the end. Hopefully they would send him to his father quickly. He wasn't sure if he was quite ready for that lecture, though. The thugs pressed in suffocatingly close. Nico was unprepared when the first blow came to his side. The thug's meaty paw caught him in his solar plexus. He collapsed onto all fours with a groan. He clutched his ribs, trying to protect them. He waited for another hit, but instead of a blow, like he was expecting, he heard one of the thugs grunt and fall to the ground.

Nico peeked over to see that it was the unnamed thug that fell. Both Charlie and Kevin were looking towards the rooftop behind him in fear. Nico took that chance to duck into the corner behind some crates. Just as he had, a bright light shone in Kevin and Charlie's faces. It momentarily blinded them and made his corner seem even darker by comparison. Nico pressed his back against the wall to wait and see what would happen. A tall, dark figure leaped off the roof and kicked Charlie in the side of the head. Charlie stumbled and fell, hitting his head hard on the ground as he went down. Instinctively, Nico knew that the man wasn't dead, nor was he in any danger of dying.

Kevin ran at the man in a cape with a small pocket knife out. The man with the deformed ears knocked the blade out of Kevin's hands then elbowed him in the side of the head, effectively knocking him out. It didn't even seem like it had taken too much effort on his part. He gave the oddly attired man a once-over, then decided that this was probably the Caped Crusader that Mavery Johnson was talking about. So, this is the Batman, then?

"Who are you?" Batman asked, turning to look at the demigod-- who was still crouched in the corner. He slowly stood up from his position and pressed his back against the wall. He was in unfamiliar territory. All of his instincts were shouting at him that he was still in danger and that this man in front of him was still a possible threat. Nico tended to trust his instincts. Though trusting his instincts didn't make him smart and he ended up mouthing off.

"I don't have to tell you," he said defensively. Batman didn't seem to like that response and took-- what he interpreted to be-- threatening step forward. Nico pressed himself further into the wall. It wasn't out of fear but more out of wariness that he wanted to distance himself from this man. He wasn't a match for this guy if he decided to strike. Plus, Nico had no way out other than past him. As it was, he appeared to be at his mercy.

"Where are your parents?" The person in front of him moved on as though he hadn't spoken. Nico didn't reply for a few moments, pondering on what to say. What would get him out of here the fastest? Unfortunately, he had no clue.

"It doesn't matter." He finally said angrily. Batman seemed surprised at his hostility. 

"It does matter-- if you don't have any," Batman replied unemotionally. He got right to the point, which didn't quite track with the theatricality that Nico had come to expect. The bluntness of the statement caught him off guard, and I found himself responding emotionally.

"That isn't any of your business, now is it?" He asked heatedly. Nico didn't see how this was any of his business. Why did he get involved with all the crime and stuff on the streets? What was the story behind the Batman? 

"Gotham is my city-- that makes it my business." The thought made Nico want to laugh-- the man thought he owned the entire city. Was this true hubris? 

"Just leave me alone, alright? I have everything taken care of." Nico said, moving to leave the alley. his plan was to make it as far as he could before the man tried to stop him then either try to make a run for it or continue negotiating the man's curiosity. He'd do whatever it took to stay out of the system.

"Yes, you proved that quite well a couple of minutes ago." Batman retorted. That made Nico angry-- this man in a bat suit had no right to criticize him since he had no idea how well he could actually take care of myself when he was fully operational. Instead of retorting-- he stiffened. Batman waited silently for a response, but Nico just resumed his course. Nico edged around Batman and then walked swiftly in the opposite direction of the vigilante, trying to put as much distance between them as he could. Surprisingly Batman didn't even try to stop him. It seemed that he wasn't as trapped as he had thought.

Nico walked for maybe an hour longer before someone else decided to interrupt my peaceful and freezing walk. He got lost in my own thoughts and accidentally started into the street, without realizing that a car was already headed his way. Luckily the driver was able to slam on the brakes in time not to crush him. He stumbled back onto the sidewalk. What was with the near-death experiences tonight? Were the fates trying to tell him something? Surely there were easier ways than this? 

When the vehicle came to a stop, Nico leaned against a lamp post for support, trying to figure out how to breathe again. The car parallel parked right in front of him, and he braced himself to run if need be. This was still Gotham-- danger came in all forms. His misgivings weren't soothed in the slightest as a man got out of the driver's side. The man was tall and broad-shouldered, with dark hair and blue eyes. Nico recognized him from a newspaper he would see every once in a while. The man that nearly ran him over was none other than Bruce Wayne, the billionaire. Perfect. The last thing he needed is to be in some news article as the almost victim of a car accident.

"Hey kid, you ok? You nearly gave me a heart attack!" He said he sounded genuinely concerned, "Hey, you don't look too good."

"I'm fine," he replied warily, watching the man curiously. Nico never looked very good-- he knew that. People often reminded him that he happened to resemble a fresh corpse.

" Where are you headed? I could drop you off? It's the least I could do." He said.

" Uh, no it's ok." Nico backed away uncomfortably. He wasn't born yesterday-- this could very easily be a new scam or kidnapping ploy. He didn't trust billionaires when he didn't know where they got their money. And sometimes not even then. Wayne had Wayne Enterprises, of course, but what did WE even do? Nico didn't really know much about Gotham but every once in a while a crazy Bruce Wayne story would get passed around camp-- usually by the Aphrodite cabin. They all seemed to be placing bets on who he would end up dating next. That didn't sit well with Nico. 

"Really? Where are your parents?" He asked, looking around as though searching for his guardian.

" I think they went to the drugstore-- they should be home in a little bit. I live just down the street." Nico lied easily. Mr. Wayne looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He gave him a judgemental once-over and Nico could just feel that this man wasn't buying it.

" You're not with your parents, are you?" He asked with sympathy in his eyes. Nico didn't reply-- knowing that he had been caught. Bruce took his silence as an answer.

"Are they..." he trailed off. Nico looked away, knowing he meant dead. He steeled himself before glancing back at the billionaire. He eyed the older man with suspicion. What is his play? He had been in the game long enough to know that there always was one. Was there somewhere he was going with this or did he just get his kicks out of bullying orphans?

"My condolences. Here, why don't you come and live with me? I have more money than I need and too much space. I also promise to try and stay out of your hair for the most part. It just wouldn't be right for me to leave you out here on your own." Bruce said, making hand gestures that you would often see business people make. Nico was about to refuse when Mr. Wayne struck home.

"Come on, it's not like you have somewhere else to go." It was true. The people at camp didn't want him and he was getting tired of not knowing where he would sleep next to or where he would get his next meal. Nico was just tired of the energy it took to live in this world. 

Nico stood there staring at Mr. Wayne for at least a minute, just trying to come up with a reason to say no. Well, beyond the fact that he didn't know him. He couldn't come up with anything and that surprised him. He thought through the pros and cons, a place to sleep, not as much privacy, food to eat, less freedom to go places on a whim, always knowing that he would have a place that he can go where people will at least accept him, or go to the place full of people like him where no one truly accepted him. He made up his mind. He wanted a fresh start. 

"Ok, on one condition," He said warningly.

"Name it," Bruce assured him.

"There is this summer camp that I go to every summer, I would still like to attend," Nico said apprehensively.

"That can be arranged."

{This was first posted in 2017, go easy on it.}


	2. Meeting The Family

Nico prayed to Hades, Hermes, and Hera to make up his background papers as he rode in the back seat of Mr. Wayne's car. To his surprise, Hades felt it necessary to speak directly into his mind. It was something that the god had recently discovered and he had not done it often. It tended to give Nico a massive headache if the connection was open for more than a minute. 

"Nico, I approve of your decision. Your cover is that you and Bianca moved to America from Italy in 1998 when you were 5. Your mother and sister died in an apartment fire and your dad became distant, not caring if you came or went. Eventually, he committed suicide and you ran away. Your father's name was Haden. Understood?" The god debriefed him. Nico confirmed that he understood and he felt his father's presence leave his mind.

"I never did get your name," Bruce said suddenly. That felt like a red flag, but Hades hadn't warned him against this mortal. If anything happened, he still had his dagger on him and he could probably manage to shadow travel far enough away if he had to. For now, he would just wait to see what was going to happen.

" Nico, Nico Di Angelo."

"Well, Nico, why don't we head down to the station and get you registered?" He asked, Bruce seemed genuinely happy at the idea. Nico just nodded solemnly-- what else was he supposed to do? Then a thought occurred to him.

"Who else lives with you?" Nico inquired. Bruce seemed surprised that he initiated the conversation, but answered the question as though it were as normal as breathing.

" Well, there is Alfred, my butler, and dear friend, along with 4 other boys. I hope you don't mind." Bruce looked over at Nico in concern. Nico didn't know how he felt. The only experience he had with a sibling was with Bianca but he was pretty sure that their relationship hadn't been normal. He'd never dealt with brothers before, though. 

Not too long after that, Bruce was pulling up to what seemed to be a social worker's office. It was run-down and seemed like it was in desperate need of repair. Bruce told Nico to stay in the car and went inside to get the papers in order (Idk how that works). About 20 minutes later, Bruce came back with a triumphant look on his face.

"Good news, I now have official custody of you. I was going to go to work, but it seems like my day has just been completely booked up." Bruce smirked in Nico's direction, who uneasily returned the gesture. It felt foreign on his face.

"That didn't take very long," Nico noted with a confused frown. 

"I may have streamlined the process. Money talks around here." Bruce smirked playfully. Nico decided hen that he was beginning to like Bruce. He was easy to be around, with his easy-going attitude. He just hoped that the rest of the family was as bearable.

" Well, at least now you can't back out when you meet the others." Bruce laughed lightly.

" What do you mean?" Nico began to grow concerned. Bruce made them sound like wild animals, not boys. He had known monsters to turn demigod into animals before. Heck, Circe turned his cousin Percy into a guinea pig a couple of years back. It wasn't so much of a stretch if you thought about it.

" They are all good boys, it's just that they can get a bit... rambunctious at times. None of them are related by blood, I adopted them all at separate times. Well, Damian is my biological son, but that is too complicated to get into right now. I think you'll like the boys once you get used to them. Though they like to show tough love, so don't be offended if they poke fun at you at first." Bruce said reassuringly. Nico nodded, glad that he had been warned beforehand. It sounded exactly like his relationship with Thalia and Percy.

" Before we get there, are there any allergies or disorders that I should be aware of?" Bruce asked.

"Well no allergies that I know of, but I have ADHD and Dyslexia pretty badly." Nico decided that it wasn't in his best interests to lie. Bruce nodded in understanding. He then put the car in park and announced that they had arrived. Nico hadn't even realized where they were. In front of him was the largest house he had seen. Hades's palace doesn't count.

" Wow." Nico breathed. Bruce chuckled.

"Com'on, I personally like the insides better." Nico wordlessly followed Bruce to the front door, where Bruce rang the doorbell. Nico decided not to comment, as not to make a fool out of himself. Why would he ring the doorbell to his own house? The door was opened moments later by a tall man that seemed to be in his late 50s.

" Welcome home, Master Bruce. Who might this be?" Nico assumed that the man was Alfred. Alfred opened the door to allow them to enter. Nico thanked him as he entered and was given 'not a problem sir' as a response. Nico's eyes widened at the formal greeting. The only ones that treated him like this were ghosts. It felt wrong in this setting.

" Hello Alfred, this is Nico Di Angelo, he will be staying with us from now on. He will need a room and clothing if you wouldn't mind." Bruce explained. Nico respected that Bruce treated Alfred as a friend and not merely a servant.

"Not at all, I will go shopping with him tomorrow evening if he is up to it." Both men looked at Nico in askance and he just shrugged. Nico had never really gone shopping before. Alfred looked him over once and nodded to himself as though he saw what he was looking for. Nico looked at Bruce with widened eyes. Bruce smirked at him knowingly. 

" This way, let's meet the others." Bruce started to head down a hallway before Alfred called to him.

" Master Bruce, Master Richard, and Master Damian are in the living room. Master Jason is in his room and Master Timothy is in the library." Alfred said helpfully. 

" Thanks, Alfred. Nico, why don't you wait here while I go and get everyone together." Nico just nodded, glad that he wouldn't have to do four separate introductions. 

"Hey, Richard!?" Bruce called out as he walked down the hallway. 

"Yeah, Bruce?" An older boy, judging by his voice, called from somewhere else in the mansion.

"Could you gather Jason and Tim in the living room? I have something to tell you all."

"Uh, yeah sure. Just give me a sec." A couple of seconds later he could hear the sounds of someone, probably Dick, going up the stairs. Moments later Nico heard a crash and a shout. Then a door slam. Then he could hear more footsteps traveling farther away and into another room. This time there was no crash. About a minute later he could hear several pairs of footsteps coming down the stairs.

Bruce came back into the foyer, where Nico stood, "Ok you can wait for a little way down the hall. Try not to be offended by anything the boys might say. They might not be immediately in favor of another person living here. They'll get over it in about an hour or two." That didn't really help his confidence. He reminded himself that this was only going to be over the school year. He'd be at camp the rest of the time. Bruce walked down the hallway and Nico followed a little ways behind, his steps staying silent out of habit. Nico stopped a couple of feet from the end of the hall while Mr. Wayne kept going.

"So, father, what did you wish to talk to us about?" Nico could only assume that that was Damian. His voice suggested a younger boy, but his manner of speaking was sophisticated. This made him feel a little insecure, it wasn't like he had really had a formal education. His vocabulary was fairly limited. How were they going to react to him? 

" I have taken in another boy, age 15," Bruce announced (work with me people, I know he wouldn't be 15).

"Another child, father?" Damian said. Nico could almost picture the boy crossing his arms.

"Oh be quiet, demon spawn. He's older than you!" One of the boys that Nico hadn't heard before spoke.

" Shut up Todd!" Damian responded.

" Who is this 'new boy' Bruce?" Dick cut back in.

" His name is Nico Di Angelo. I found him on the way to work this morning. He's been through a lot, so be nice. Ok?" Bruce said pleadingly.

" Yeah, sure." Said another new voice. Nico decided that this was probably Tim.

"Where is he, Bruce?" Jason asked.

"Nico? Why don't you come in now." Nico steeled himself before entering the room. The sight he was greeted with wasn't exactly what he was expecting. There were 4 black-haired boys sitting on assorted couches and chairs with Bruce standing in front of the tv. He also felt slightly unnerved that all the eyes in the room were on him. Nico said nothing as he analyzed the people in front of him. He had endured creepier silences among the dead, and his father's stares were far more intimidating.

The oldest (or at least the oldest looking), who he assumed was Dick, stood up to greet him, holding out his hands. Nico obliged him in a brief handshake. Dick was surprised at how cold and bony his hands were. Nico immediately struck him as very unhealthy, with his sunken cheeks skinny build, and pale skin.

"I'm Richard Grayson, but you can call me Dick. That lump on the couch over there is Jason Todd." The boy with white bangs nodded to him in a 'wassup' sort of way. Sort of like how the Ares kids would once you earned their respect. Nico wondered if he had given Jason any cause for that greeting or if that was just something he did.

Dick continued, "That boy right there is Timothy Drake." Nico maintained an impassive look as Richard continued, "And the demon spawn on the ottoman is Damian Wayne." Tim dipped his head in greeting and Damian just stared. Nico was odd, they all could tell. There was just something about him that made them all nervous. He himself wasn't too intimidating, with his small stature and overall health. His clothes were hanging off his body.

"Er, well I'm Nico Di Angelo." He said, gauging their reactions. Luckily, there wasn't one and he felt his muscles relax. They must not have heard about the manhunt when he and Bianca 'ran away' from the military academy three years ago.

"Ok, you all get to know each other. I have some work that I need to take care of. Dick, you and the others will be in charge of giving Nico a tour." Bruce said, fixing each boy in his gaze individually. 

"Don't worry, Bruce! What's the worst that could happen?" Dick asked slyly. Nico got the feeling that there was more to that comment than he could understand. Bruce glared at Dick in a suspicious way before exiting the room. Nico suddenly felt like a child who was left with a babysitter who let him play with knives. He was curious and they seemed to be the type that would love the Stoll brothers. It was a good thing he had always been on good terms with the Hermes boys.

"Where did you come from? Your voice doesn't sound fully American." The boy, Damian asked from his place on the ottoman, crossing his arms. Nico bristled at both the question and the tone of his voice, it was almost hostile.

"Damian! Be nice!" Dick scolded.

"Oh shut up Grayson, you know you're curious too!" Dick glared at his younger brother but did not respond.

"Venice, Italy," Nico replied simply. He didn't mind disclosing this to them, seeing as they could already tell he wasn't American. 

"Really? Does that mean you speak Italian?” Tim raised an eyebrow at him, curiously. 

“Yeah, It’s my native language. Though I haven’t needed to speak it in awhile. I’m a little rusty.” Nico admitted. Hopefully, this was all backed up in his papers. Tim seemed satisfied with his answers and gestured him closer.

"Come sit down with us." Nico wearily complied, sitting down on a black leather recliner in the corner of the spacious room. 

"Do you mind if we ask some questions? You can skip some if you want." Tim inquired, leaning forward so that his elbows were propped on his knees. Nico pondered for a minute, he was going to be living with them, shouldn't they know at least a couple of things about him?

"Ok, shoot."

" What is your favorite color?" Tim asked almost immediately. 

"Seriously, Drake?" 

"Black." Nico interrupted before there could be an argument.

"What is your favorite subject?" Nico almost laughed. Considering his school records and his 80 years stuck as a 12-year-old, he hadn't really ever had a proper education. 

"Uh, skip."

"Ok, favorite game." This time Jason asked the question. This was a tricky question, Nico had to pick between capture the flag and Mytho-Magic. Deciding that he'd rather keep Mytho-Magic as his own special escape, he said that he liked to play capture the flag.

"How about your favorite childhood memory." Dick took his turn. Immediately Nico tensed. The anger he felt towards his father when he learned about his dip in the lethe resurfaced. He had no 'childhood memories’. Vaguely he wondered why they had jumped from simple surface-level questions to his childhood, but it didn’t really matter.

"Pass," Nico said gritting his teeth. Thankfully, the others didn't protest. 

" What is your favorite hobby?" Surprisingly Damian had been the one to speak. Nico looked at him appreciatively. He hadn’t expected Bruce’s mini-me to be at all interested in anything he had to say. This was a pleasant surprise. 

"Sword fighting. Greek-style." Nico said truthfully. He smirked slightly as he saw the looks of excitement and shock on his new brother's faces.

"Interesting.” Damian conceded.

" Oh no, here we go again." Muttered Jason.

" Who taught you?" Dick asked curiously. 

" I wish to see your practice." Damian interrupted. 

" Well, there is an instructor that teaches it at the summer camp that I usually attend. My sword is in my cabin at the camp."

" Why aren't you there now?" Tim cut in.

"Well, the camp director allowed me to come back to Gotham for the week. All my stuff is still at camp. I need to tell the director about the new setup and retrieve my clothes." Nico said looking at Dick asking his questions wordlessly. 

" Well, just let Bruce and Alfred know and they will figure it all out I'm sure," Dick sighed and stood up, stretching as he did so. "Well, Nico, want a tour? We will show you your room too." Dick offered. Nico nodded and followed the boys through the manor. It was a lot to remember and he was sure he would get lost more than once in this maze.

The boys spent the next couple of hours just showing Nico around and sharing stories. Nico began to feel more relaxed and comfortable around his new siblings. By the end of the day, Nico felt almost as close to these boys as he had been with Percy before the whole Doors of Orpheus event. By Nico's standards, that was saying something. With one particular boy, the relationship was probably closer to the post-Orpheus Doors incident.

When Bruce came out of his office he found that all the boys, and Alfred, were in the kitchen. Dick and Tim were setting the table, Jason and Damian were cutting up and measuring them as Nico dictated them. That's right, Nico was cooking.

Alfred was positioned next to Nico, to supervise. Nico appeared to be cooking some sort of Italian dish, without a recipe in front of him. Bruce was surprised that Nico could so accurately (or at least confidently) remember the recipe without anything to reference. Bruce was also highly impressed by how quickly Nico had inserted himself into this family. His boys, though they tried, weren't the most accepting bunch. This was no small feat.

Being careful to wait until Nico's hands were empty so he wouldn’t drop anything, Bruce made his presence known. Though not before he snapped a couple of pictures with his phone. What? He liked to look back through them sometimes during particularly boring business meetings.

"Well, this is interesting! I've never seen you all work together on anything before." Tim's shoulders tensed, Dick looked up sharply, Jason muttered a suppressed curse, and Damian took a quick intake of breath. The only two who didn't react were Nico and Alfred.

"Alfred, could you put the serving bowl over here please?" Nico asked as though nothing had happened-- he was too preoccupied with the food. He had mentioned that he had ADHD, and Bruce knew that a symptom of ADHD was hyperfocus. People with ADHD could often tune out just about anything while they were in a state of hyperfocus. Was that what this was? He had done extensive research on the disorder a few years back because he had suspected that Jason might have had it. 

"Certainly, Master Nico." Nico seemed to cringe at the title, but it was hard to tell from this angle. Nico poured a large pot of fettuccine noodles with a thick creamy sauce into the bowl. Alfred brought the bowl over to the table, where he had laid other dishes that Bruce recognized to be some of Alfred's specials. He guessed tonight was a special night, so it made sense. It wasn’t every day you added a new member to the family.

Nico turned around, taking off a gray apron. He caught Bruce staring at him and immediately looked away. He suddenly became very invested in folding the apron just-so. Bruce eyed him curiously but decided not to comment. Once the apron had been folded, Nico’s hands went straight to his skull ring, twisting it anxiously. Was he just stimming or was he nervous? From his paperwork, Bruce knew that Nico had been through a lot. Did he have anxiety? He decided to keep his eye out for any signs that Nico had any other mental health conditions, just to be safe. 

“What’s wrong?” Nico asked finally, shaking Bruce out of his thoughts. 

"Nothing, I was just wondering who taught you to cook." Bruce used that to cover up his blunder. He hadn’t meant to stare at Nico so long, he was just trying to figure the strange boy out.

"Oh... well, wait until you try it to call it cooking." He said, his face flushing in embarrassment but his features relaxed immensely. Bruce noticed that Nico purposefully avoided the question.

Though his hunger outweighed his curiosity and all of the smells began to get to him. Bruce motioned towards the table and everyone sat down in a seat. That was the night that they all learned that Nico was a really good cook.

[For those of you who are coming on from Wattpad, this will be a bit different from what you remember. I am editing things so that they flow better and fit my current writing style. I am not changing any main plot points, though. It is mostly cosmetic stuff.]


	3. Demigod Dreams

That night, he laid in his bed staring at the white ceiling, unable to sleep. Nico had a feeling that something big was about to happen. Something that he would be needed for. He couldn't explain how he knew that, he just knew. Is this how Percy felt all the time? Always knowing that he was doomed to be a part of a prophecy? Nico didn't like it much himself.

Eventually, sleep overtook the son of Hades, after hours of counting swords and shields in his head and reciting Mythomagic stats. Surprisingly, he could still remember most of them, though he would never admit it to anyone else if they asked. Nico had picked up the card game shortly before he entered the casino. The ideas of gods and monsters had always called to me-- even back then. It was a sick irony now that he could look back on it. He really should have known, even back then, that something was wrong. 

When he finally did fall asleep, he was pulled deep into a demigod dream. In the dream Nico was running through the Underworld, searching for something. He felt like he desperately needed to find it, whatever it is. It was as if someone's life depended on it, which was very well possible. Nico felt both anguish and hope, an odd combination. As he ran, he recognized the path leading to Elysium. It occurred to him that he was probably searching for Bianca, his dead sister. The disembodied feelings became more real with this realization and he raced through the beautiful fields, searching for her. Nico searched for a long time but he couldn't find her, he couldn't even sense her soul nearby. He could barely push down his disappointment.

Nico left the Isle of the Blessed feeling depressed. He let his feet guide him through the familiar fields of asphodel. As he walked, he bumped into a particularly bright spirit. Nico stumbled back a couple of steps and looked towards where the soul had been but the scene changed before he could catch a glimpse of the spirit's face. Their familiar presence faded as he found himself somewhere else.

This time, Nico was in his family's old hotel, sitting on the hardwood floor, trying to teach Bianca how to play Mythomagic-- his favorite game. At first, everything was fine, his mother chatted with Hades, the fireplace glowed warmly, and the rain outside had lightened to a slight drizzle. It was perfect. Though, when anything gets to be as perfect as that moment had been, things could only go downhill, and they did. The tone of voice his parents were using in their discussion had changed. Father got up off the couch and started speaking to Maria in English, a language that the siblings didn't really understand very well. Hades was pacing and seemed agitated.

In the middle of the discussion, Hades lunged towards Maria and yelled, "NO!" Then there was only fire. Nico woke up with a pathetic yelp, cutting off just as soon as he opened his eyes. He breathed heavily, trying to calm down. He could still feel the flames-- even in his waking state. Nico finally got his breathing under and he surveyed the room as a force of habit, looking for the exits and for anything unfamiliar. Nothing seemed to be amiss, though the room was still unfamiliar to him. 

He rolled over and sat on the edge of the bed, considering what the dream could have possibly meant. Who was the unidentified spirit? Why was he searching for Bianca? Nico was abruptly cut off from his musings by the sounds of the doorknob turning and tumblers clicking. He must have woken someone up. Oh, Fiddlesticks.

++Dick Grayson++

Bruce and the boys had just come back from patrol and were going into their rooms for the night when Dick heard a muffled shout coming from Nico's room. Dick moved quickly down the hall and quietly opened his new brother's door. He found Nico sitting on the edge of his bed with his arms on his knees and his head in his hands.

"Hey, are you alright?" Richard expected Nico to be startled but he simply glanced up before returning to his previous position. Dick stepped into the room, closing the door so he could lean against the door. He recognized this scene. They'd each been in this position at least once. None of them really had the best backgrounds. Sometimes he would still find himself sitting on the edge of his bed, waiting for everything to feel alright again. 

"I'm fine." Nico lied. If Dick wasn't Nightwing, a protege of the Batman, he might've believed him. 

"I heard you shout, you wanna tell me another?" Richard gave him his best 'big brother' glare. Nico looked up at Dick with a well-disguised wince. 

"I really don't want to talk about it," Nico said truthfully. Without either of the boys noticing, the shadows in the room were shifting, as if responding to Nico's duress.

"Now that I believe," the older boy hesitated, "You know that you can trust us, right?" Dick said, crossing his arms. His voice was more scolding than warm, but you could see that he cared by the look in his eyes. Nico simply nodded in response. The truth would have been no, and they both knew it. However, Dick was willing to let this slide. He doubted he would have trusted people he had just met either. Trust issues come with trauma.

" It was just a nightmare." That was only partially the truth. Somehow nightmares with scenes of the future or the past were somehow worse. Dick nodded, sitting in the rolling chair that was at Nico's desk area. 

"Was it about your family?" Nico didn't answer, he didn't need to. His silence was answer enough.

"I still get nightmares about my parent's death," Dick said. He thought that if he could establish a common ground with this secretive boy, he might have a chance at him opening up more. Plus it always felt good to tell people about his family, like they would never be forgotten.

"How did they die?" To Dick's surprise, Nico actually seemed interested in the conversation. Dick went on to explain how his parents died and how Batman had caught the man responsible and locked him up. Nico was a very good listener and waited until the end to comment.

" Batman eh?" Nico scoffed, kind of in a disbelieving way.

" Yeah. You know, the guy who cleans up the city in a suit and has bat ears?" Dick said, using his fingers to imitate the ears on Bruce's cowl. Nico chuckled, feeling more relaxed than he had in a while.

"Yeah, I've met him."

"You did?" Dick didn't sound really surprised.

" Yeah, last night. He kept me from getting mugged." Nico didn't mention their conversation. Dick got the underlying message and didn't press him.

"Ahhh, you were lucky then." Nico just nodded, "I'm going to bed now. You know that we all have sob stories, we're all going to want to know yours sometime." Dick said as he moved towards the door.

"Yeah, I know. It's just... my life is really complicated." 

"I get that," Dick nodded appreciatively, Nico got the feeling that he really did understand, "How about we just ask you questions and you can skip if you need to?" Dick asked as he opened the door. Nico considered it and, seeing no harm, he nodded. Dick exited his room and closed the door. Nico crawled back into his bed and promptly passed out.

The next morning, all the boys came down for breakfast except Nico. Breakfast was held in the informal dining room, attached to the open concept kitchen. The room was spacious enough for a full-sized kitchen along with a semi-long table long enough to fit the entire family.

" Should I go wake, Master Nico?" Alfred asked Bruce as he filled up his coffee cup. Bruce was about to answer when Richard cut in.

" Nah," Dick interrupted, "he didn't sleep well last night."

" How would you know, Grayson?" Damian asked incredulously. Leave it to Dami to suggest that Dick was a stalker.

" I sat up and talked to him for a while. He had a nightmare and said that he didn't want to talk so I told him about my parents." Bruce watched Dick all throughout the time he was speaking.

"Did he tell you anything about himself?" His Batman side was showing. Bruce was also generally concerned about his well-being, but also just really curious by nature. He was kind of worried for Nico, he was so obviously underweight and so secretive. Plus, he was almost mugged the night before, he had to have been hurt from that encounter, Batman had witnessed the cruel blow to his ribs. He wantedto connect with the boy sooner rather than later so he could start helping him.

"No, though he agreed that if we ask questions he would answer most of them and skip the ones he wouldn't answer." The family considered the deal. It was better than nothing. 

"Well, it's a start." Jason put in, stretching. 

"Any ideas about what to do today? Like what should we do with Nico?" Tim asked. The boys shook their heads and Damian sat silently, picking at his breakfast.

"Any ideas Dami?" Richard inquired, mainly trying to get his attention but also caring about his input.

"No. Father, are we going to tell him?" Bruce looked at each of his sons as their gazes turned to him. He set down his coffee before responding.

"Let's see if he can figure it out by himself. There is something different about him. I can't quite put my finger on it." Bruce sat back in his chair and intertwined his fingers. Everyone nodded in agreement. The rest of them, excluding Damian, had found it out on their own, Nico should have to as well. It was basically a rite of passage at this point.

After breakfast, Dick had been the one elected to go wake Nico up. His brothers tagged along just to see Nico's reaction. They were hoping for some free entertainment, preferably at Dick's expense. Dick slowly crept into the newbie's bedroom, to find that Nico was lying peacefully on his side, facing away from them. Dick left the door open so his other brothers could watch. Dick glanced back at the door, where his siblings shooed him on. Richard sighed and made his way quietly up to the bed. 

He took a deep breath before grabbing Nico's shoulder firmly. What happened next, no one was expecting. Nico twisted in his bed like he was a cat in midair. Without even opening his eyes, he caught Dick in the side of the head with strong backhand. Dick stumbled back in surprise, clutching his right ear that was now ringing. Nico had a very powerful slap for someone of his demeanor. The boys were also disturbed by the fact that Nico seemed to not even wake up during that event. He had protected himself in his sleep. Nico woke immediately after, and in one fluid motion went from being on the bed to being on his feet and over 4 feet away. He looked cornered and disoriented-- his eyes were half shut but he was balancing on the balls of his feet.

"Woah! Nico calm down! Remember? You're at the Wayne Manor!" Dick tried to get through to him. Nico's eyes stopped moving erratically and settled on Richard. He sized up the situation immediately and relaxed his stance. His face turned apologetic.

"Um err, sorry I didn't mean to do... that." Nico rubbed the back of his neck and seemed to be trying to make himself smaller than he actually was by slouching his shoulders and shuffling his feet anxiously. 

"What was 'that' exactly?" Jason asked, stepping into the room. Nico's eyes flashed, but whether that was in anger or fear, Jason couldn't tell.

"It was a uhhhh..." Nico paused, seemingly trying to find the right word, "a defense mechanism." The boys shared a dubious look.

"Really? Where did you learn that?" Tim stepped into the room, Damian following closely behind. Nico's eyes flickered to Tim and settled on him for a bit longer than what was necessary. The boys took that as panic while he was trying to think of a response.

"Just years of experience. I've been fighting since I was little." Nico replied. That was maybe stretching the truth a bit. He had been fighting since he was 12, and he was now 14 or 15... who knew for sure? Though Nico figured that you had to give him some credit for his time out of time.

"Still, that was a very interesting move." Dami finally spoke up, his tone of voice was hard but there was a genuine interest in his eyes. Nico didn't respond, rubbing his knuckles intently.

"You ok?" Richard asked politely. Nico nodded and wrapped his arms around himself protectively.

"Yeah, you?" Dick nodded. There was an awkward lull in conversation where no one knew what to say.

"Nico, how old are you again?" It was Jason who asked the question this time. They all knew what Batman had told them, but it was a simple icebreaker.

"15, why?" Jason shrugged nonchalantly.

" Just wondering. You're one year older than Tim. When's your birthday?" It was an innocent question but Nico tensed and his eyes grew guarded. Immediately they knew that Nico was hiding more than they had originally thought. What possible harm could there be in telling them his birthday?

" Nico? Do you not know your birthday?" It was Richard who asked the question. It hadn't even occurred to the other three that he might not know what his birthday was. They were thinking more along the lines of secret identity or something else more elaborate. Dealing with people with powers tended to make their suspicions blow way out of proportion.

Nico didn't respond. He shuffled uncomfortably-- obviously unsure of how to respond. These actions in themselves gave them the answers they needed. The boys shared pained looks. They couldn't imagine not knowing their own birthday. It did beg the question at just how long he had been on his own. Did he really not have anyone in his life who could remind him?

"Where did you live before this? Didn't you live with anyone else?" 

"Well I stay at a summer camp sometimes over the summers but I don't really have a place to stay otherwise. I never really stayed anywhere long enough to get to know anyone." Nico shrugged. It was mostly true, after all. He couldn't very well tell them that he spent most of his time in the Underworld. Plus there was the fact that Nico wasn't sure if Hades even remembered his birthday.

" I'm sorry..." Jason trailed off awkwardly. Just because he knew what Nico had gone through, didn't mean he knew how to comfort him. It was true that Nico didn't know what day he was actually born. Bianca only knew the year: 1928. So Nico kind of adopted Halloween as his birthday, partly as a joke and partly because it was memorable.

" It's not your fault," Nico said curtly, "I chose October 31st as my birthday."

"Halloween," Tim observed.

"Yeah."

"Any particular reason?" Nico sighed and moved to the closet where there were a couple of spare sets of clothes. He grabbed a pair of black sweat pants and a black long-sleeved shirt. They were both pretty big but they were the only black clothes he had. Plus they looked warm and clean. They would do for now at least. 

"None that I would care to discuss. Let's just say that someone that I used to be close to gave me the idea." Nico left them all standing there as he went into his connected bathroom and shut the door with finality. The bat brothers looked at each other and then left the room. They were no closer to learning anything important about Nico than they were before. Without any further discussion, they all followed Tim to the library downstairs. It was basically a study, but for the entire family. They scattered on the couches in the center of the room. There was a lot to talk about regarding their newest housemate.

" Does anyone else think that it is a little strange that he has a defense mechanism for when he is sleeping? I don't think that that is a normal response for people who have lived on the streets. When it comes to fight or flight, they typically choose flight." Jason stated matter-of-factly. He should know, having come from the streets himself.

"Yeah, I find that most curious as well. I also can't believe that he learned sword fighting at a summer camp." Damian agreed.

" Well, you were trained by assassins so is it really too big of a stretch?" Tim asked.

"` I'm sure this isn't the same."`

`"Come on guys, knock it off. I think that, once he learns the secret he will come around. We can't expect to know everything about him on the second day." Richards reasoned, "I say we drop really subtle hints and while he figures it out, we test his abilities until then."`

`"And how exactly do we do that?" Damian asked, crossing his arms. Dick smiled almost evilly, making Damian sorry he asked.`

`" One, two, three, four... I declare... A PRANK WAR!" They exchanged smiles. `

`" Deal! What are the rules?" Jason asked.`

`" Nothing that could cause serious injury, every man for himself, and none of that bathroom stuff like the hair dye in the shampoo, and we'll wait until Nico gets some new clothes." Richard listed. There were protests when he added the second rule but Dick was adamant. Then he thought of something, "Oh, and try not to do anything too humiliating to Nico, I'm not sure how well he would take it."`

`"Got it!" Tim said. The others nodded, however reluctantly. "Hey, you think we should send at least one of us out with Nico to make sure he gets something other than black?"`

` "It couldn't hurt." said Dick with a shrug, "I wouldn't mind going with him."`

` "Ok, Alfred was talking about taking him this evening I think. Try to imagine him in a tux!" Jason said chuckling. That made the others chuckle too, none of them could imagine Nico in a tuxedo.`

`"What do we do until then? I don't think it would be too fair for us to get such a head start for making plans." Jason said reasonably. Dick nodded appreciatively, he was surprised that Jason wasn't already going around the manor to set things up. He got really into prank wars.`

`" Well, we can show him our 'hobbies'," Dick suggested. His brothers looked at him in horror. Dick laughed when he caught their expressions, "relax, I meant gymnastics, hacking, and such. Not the extracurricular activities." They all relaxed simultaneously. Dick rolled his eyes, he wasn't an idiot.`

` "I can show him the computer I'm building!" Tim said happily. `

`"I could show him the gymnastics equipment and the trapeze."`

`"I would not mind showing him my sword collection."`

`"Yeah, maybe he'd enjoy Xbox." Jason said, surprisingly interested. Usually, he wasn't into the whole getting-to-know-you thing.`

` Richard smiled, "Let's do it. Tim, you go first. He doesn't seem to be the type that would be very big into computers so that might take the least amount of time." Tim nodded agreeably, "Jason, why don't you go next, you two can play until lunch if he wants then we can show him the rest afterward." For once everyone agreed on something. What Dick was saying made sense, and they were all curious about Nico.`

`Tim left with Jason, presumably to go find Nico. Damian left to go shower. Dick grabbed a book on software from one of the shelves and picked up where he left off. He wanted to finish this article before he started his chores for the week, to clean all the windows on the third and fourth floors, and clean his room. They may have a butler but they still all had chores that they had to do. It wouldn't be fair to leave the entire house to Alfred.`

`++Nico++`

` As Nico stepped into his bathroom, he mentally kicked himself. Why did he have to be so dramatic? he was supposed to be able to lie so easily. They ask a simple question like when his birthday is and he loses it. I took a deep breath to calm his nerves before stripping and getting into the warm shower. Nico had to have it just warm and not hot so that he wouldn't freeze when he got out. He was cold enough as it was since his body had a hard time generating much heat in the first place.`

` As he got cleaned off, he tried not to look at his scars. There weren't too many by demigod standards, but there were way too many in the eyes of any mortal. The scars that he did have were more prominent than most demigods too. It was like his skin contrasted with the lines, making them stand out. Nico absently prayed that the Wayne family would never find out about them because they would take more than a little explaining. `

`He finished up quickly, drying off and slipping on the change of clothes he had grabbed. They were small, but they still hung off his skeletal frame. Nico had to roll the waistband of the sweatpants several times to make them fit right. As he brushed his teeth with the provided supplies, he was careful not to look at himself in the mirror, knowing full well that he was nothing much to look at.`

` He dried his hair as much as he could before heading back out into his room. Luckily, the others were no longer there. He decided that he liked them for the most part ( Nico got along with them better than he ever had with anyone else). Nico also knew that he would often need time to escape and be alone, that was just his inner introvert speaking.`

`The night before, Bruce had agreed to take him to camp to get the rest of his things and to assure his camp director that he was alright. Nico wasn't surprised that no one had Iris messaged him yet, though he did feel sort of offended. He had told Bruce that he should wait for him by the Delphi strawberries stand and that camp was just over the next ridge. He also told the older man that he would rather go in alone, claiming that it was in order not to draw too much attention to himself. Nico doubted that the others would know much about Bruce Wayne, but there weren't adults there often. Also, Bruce probably wouldn't approve of the camp itself either. That isn't if he was even allowed in.`

`Nico took a deep breath at his door, preparing himself for the social interaction. He slowly pulled it open and moved into the hall. He traveled quietly down the halls and to the stairs. Nico eased down the stairs and towards the kitchen. Alfred was nowhere to be seen but Damian was there doing the dishes. For some reason, that surprised him Damian seemed like the kind that would be against chores. It seemed to fit into his sanctimonious personality. Perhaps it was more a credit to Bruce's parenting, he could get Damian to do chores. It was impressive nonetheless. `

`Because Damian did not acknowledge his presence, Nico assumed that he hadn't heard him enter. He decided to make his presence known, "So, where are..." `

` Nico was cut off by Damian throwing the plate he had in his hands like a frisbee. It was only due to his demigod reflexes that he was able to catch the plate before it hit him in the gut. Nico's hands hurt from the impact and he was surprised to see how accurately Damian had thrown it. The demigod was really lucky to have caught it. It would have hit him right in the ribs. He hoped that the display had seemed cooler than it was because he doubted that he could do that again. Not that he would want to, his heart was now racing and his breath was unsteady. Damian was staring at him as though he had just spilled his guts about his lineage. `

` "So, as I was saying, where are the others?" Nico asked, setting the plate down gently on the counter. The son of Hades hoped that, if he ignored the event, he could avoid questioning. he should have known that Damian wouldn't let it drop so easily.`

` "How... how did you do that?" Damian frowned. A wave of anxiety crashed over Nico but he managed to reel it in before he replied.`

` "It was luck..." He chuckled as though he couldn't believe what had just transpired either, "I doubt I could do it again if I tried." Damian glared, squinting suspiciously. `

`" `. Well, I think that Drake wanted to show you his computers." Damian grabbed the plate that he had thrown off the counter and put it back in the dishwater. ``

` `"Uh ok, where is he?" Nico asked, glad to avoid further questioning.` `

` `" Check his room, you recall where that was, correct?" Damian said without turning. He sighed internally and left the room. Nico was getting a little tired of the boy's attitude anyway.` `


	4. Hobbies

Nico headed back upstairs after grabbing a pomegranate (why they had one was beyond him) sort of as a joke but also because he actually enjoyed the fruit. He also grabbed a napkin, the things were really juicy sometimes.

Nico wondered why Tim felt any particular need to show him his computers. In all honesty, computers sort of baffled him. They hadn't existed before he went into the hotel, therefore he had no idea how they worked. Beckendorf had shown him how to turn one on before and explained the concept of the internet, saying that it was the internet that the monsters could sense. He also explained that his computer wasn't connected to the internet so it wouldn't emit a signal that the monsters could sense.

Nico got to Tim's door and knocked lightly. Moments later Tim opened the door and practically dragged him inside. The inside of his room was well-organized. He had 2 shelving units in his room, both filled with what he could only assume were computer parts. It reminded him of the Hephestus cabin back at camp.

"Wow... this is way too technical for me," Nico said as he slowly spun to accentuate that he did find the room interesting. He honestly was interested, even though he couldn't tell the difference between a mouse and a hard-drive.

" Don't worry, I won't try to get you to learn this stuff," Tim said, smirking. He plopped into a spinny chair and spun around like a little kid. Nico smiled wistfully, he wished that he hadn't missed out on a lot of his childhood (lack of monsters trying to kill him for instance). 

" Well, what did you want to show me? What do you do with all these parts?" Nico figured that, if he got Tim on a roll, he wouldn't have to talk very much and would learn more. As Tim started to speak, Nico knew that he was right.

"Well, I build computers. I start with..." Nico tried to listen, but his ADHD and the fact that Tim wasn't speaking English made it really hard to pay attention. Tim seemed to get this because eventually, he switched to using less technical words and using more analogies. That would've been great, you know if Nico knew anything about modern-day pop culture. He didn't know anything about movies like Independence Day and how inaccurate the hacking scenes were. Though as Tim kept talking, Nico developed a sort of respect for the art of building and operating computers.

After Tim had shown him everything that he wanted to, Jason came in and asked if Nico wanted to play a game on Xbox. That, of course, led to a long explanation that he had no idea how to operate the controls.

" How have you not played Xbox?" Jason yelled incredulously. 

" I just never have, ok?" Nico replied with a slightly defensive tone.

" Well, you are now! C'mon! I'll teach you."

"Ha! This I gotta see!" Tim said, jumping off his spinning chair.

"Shut up Drake!" Both Nico and Jason said together. They smirked at each other playfully.

"So... you were going to teach me how to play... the box?" Jason laughed and grabbed Nico's shoulder, steering him out the door. Nico tried not to shudder at the physical contact, though he didn't think he succeeded, as Jason quickly let go and glanced at Nico curiously. Luckily, he didn't question it.

" Ok, so this button..." Jason gave him a quick tutorial on what buttons to push and what the idea of the game was. Basically, you were trying to kill the other player using strategy. If there was one thing that Nico knew inside and out, it was death. In the first couple of games, Jason crushed Nico. What Jason didn't know was that Nico had just been getting used to the controls and learning about the map. In the next two games, Nico did much better, still not winning any. In the last two games, Nico crushed Jason, having familiarized himself with the controls and the map. Nico was also very skilled in strategy, being fresh out of a war.

"How...?" Nico's head snapped towards the direction of the voice. He saw that everyone except Alfred had congregated in the game room to watch. He had been too focused on the game to pay attention to what had been going on around him. Was it normal for the whole family to watch Jason play video games or had they done something to attract their attention? Tim had been the one that spoke. He was frowning at the screen as if trying to make sure that what he was seeing was real. 

"You did not just get beaten by a newbie!' Tim grinned at his older brother smugly. Jason growled at him before turning off his controller. He took the controller out of Nico's hands and went to put them away. Nico just hoped that he hadn't made Jason too mad. He had just been trying to play a friendly game, after all. 

"Are you losing your touch, Jay?" Dick raised an eyebrow at his younger brother.

"Shut up both of you! I lost on purpose!" They all knew he was lying. Nico couldn't tell if he was actually angry or not, since his back was to him. Dick and Tim didn't seem bothered by Jason's behavior and Damian had already left. Bruce was watching Nico carefully and the demigod was very uncomfortable under the older man's gaze. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and hurriedly left the room without a word. He didn't know what to say. He walked out into the backyard and made his way to the part furthest from the manor. He kicked a stone that he stumbled on, taking out all of his anger on that poor stone. Nico sat himself down beneath a weeping willow and put his head in his hands.

Then his father decided to grace Nico with his presence in his skull. As if he didn't already have a horrible headache.

"You need to be more cautious, Nico. If you make them too suspicious of you, they might go digging into your past and find that things don't add up. You cannot risk exposure. You need to use your head." The god put in his two cents worth.

"Yes, father." Nico felt his father's presence leave. He shrunk back against the tree in defeat. Why couldn't he do anything right? Hades still seemed to think that he was twelve. He had grown and matured a lot since then, but Hades didn’t give him credit for that.

Nico heard footsteps approaching. They sounded almost like a high-heeled shoe but the pitch wasn't right, it was much too deep. It must be a man's dress shoe. That means it was either Bruce or Alfred. Nico didn't want to talk to either of them so he pulled himself up into the willow and hid among the branches.

" Nico? Nico, are you alright? Where are you?" It was definitely Bruce. Nico was confused that Bruce sounded genuinely concerned. Bruce walked into the grove, looking virtually everywhere except up. This confused Nico because Bruce seemed to be a very smart man, smart enough to look up. That was when Nico decided that Bruce was simply pretending not to know where he was. Knowing this, he climbed down as quietly as possible and leaned against the tree trunk.

"Nico, why did you walk out? You did nothing wrong." Nico nearly snorted, when Bruce said that he'd done nothing wrong if only he knew. He didn’t address the question, instead preferring to avoid the subject.

"Come off it Bruce, you know where I am," Nico called. Bruce's shoulders slumped slightly and he turned around.

"How'd you know?"

"We're in Gotham City and you looked everywhere except up." Bruce chuckled and looked at Nico out of the corner of his eye slyly.

"You're pretty smart you know?" Bruce said suddenly. Nico snorted in derision. "No! It's true! I've seen it and you've only been here two days. Also, if you need something you will have to let me know, I'm not so great at the fathering thing so..." Bruce trailed off awkwardly.

" Yeah, I'm not used to having a father so..." Nico replied, trying to reassure Bruce. Bruce smiled and jerked his head in the direction of the manor. The gesture clearly meant for Nico to follow him back. Nico reluctantly pushed off the tree and walked to stand in front of Bruce. 

"Come on, it's time for lunch. Then I believe that Dick and Damian are wanting to show you their hobbies." Nico followed Bruce inside and sat with the other boys wordlessly at the table. Tim and Damian seemed to be in an argument about ninjas and Richard was arguing with Jason that Deathstroke was worse than the Joker. Why the boys had a preference was beyond his grasp. 

"What do you think Nico?" Jason said suddenly. Nico looked up from the soup that he had been playing with. 

"Err about what?" Nico asked.

"Who's worse? The Joker or Deathstroke?" Dick butted in. Nico looked back and forth between the two. They seemed to be serious about their question. Though Nico had no idea who either of those people were. Yes, he knew that they were Gotham villains, but that was about it. He just shrugged and hoped that they would drop the subject. No such luck.

"You don't know? What do you mean you don't know?" Damian asked incredulously. 

" Well err, I'm not from Gotham originally. I don't have much of an idea about the criminals around here." Nico avoided eye contact and scratched the back of his neck. He stopped as soon as he realized that he was doing it. It was a habit that he had picked up from Percy.

" Oh, I see," Dick said. His voice seemed strained but it was hard to tell.

"Well Nico, I called your camp and they are shipping your items here. They should be here sometime in the next two days." Nico's eyes widened. He had forgotten that Chiron had a phone.

"Thanks."

" No problem. I also thought that I should let you know that there is a gala tomorrow night. You will be expected to attend and you will probably be interviewed." Nico tensed. He did not like the sound of that.

"Dear gods help me," Nico whispered to himself. He took a bite of his soup even though he didn't have much of an appetite at the moment.

"Now, I know that this is out of your comfort zone, just try to smile a little and hang around the boys. Ok?" Bruce advised watching Nico closely. Nico couldn't find any words so he just nodded solemnly. 

" Don't freak out. We'll all be there. You can hang with me if you want." Dick offered. Nico glanced at him, judging if he was making fun of him or not. Deciding that he wasn't Nico nodded his thanks.

"Ok, I'm finished. Nico, do you want to see my hobby?" Dick asked standing. Nico nodded and followed Dick out of the room. Nico allowed himself to be led to the gym area on the second floor. 

++Dick++

"Ever done any gymnastics?" Dick asked heading into the bathroom to change. Nico shook his head and began to explore the room. When Dick came back out, he found Nico looking at the boxing mats. He seemed deep in thought. As Dick got closer, he could see Nico sneer at the mats, as though he detested the idea of fighting.

"Hey Nico, over here." Dick gestured with his arm towards the hanging rings. Nico's head snapped in his direction and he came back over to where Dick was.

"Do you know what those are?" Dick asked, gesturing up at the rings, hanging from the ceiling.

" A death trap?" Nico asked, staring at them with mild concern in his eyes.

Dick chuckled lightly, not knowing that Nico was being serious, "Haha not quite, they’re gymnastic rings. Watch." With that, Richard skillfully mounted the rings and started doing simple swings and flips to get warmed up. As he went, he started performing more and more complicated stunts. It was all Nico could do not to gape at the boy doing crazy stunts in front of him. He made it look so effortless. When Dick came back down to the Earth, he grabbed a water bottle and chugged some of it. 

" That was really cool. Where'd you learn that?" Dick was surprised at the praise, Nico didn't seem like the type to openly give compliments.

" Thanks. I was an acrobat when I was a kid. I performed with my family, The Flying Graysons. I never stopped practicing, even after they died." Dick waited for all the normal responses, like 'I'm so sorry!' And 'my condolences'. What Nico said surprised him even more.

"Mary and John Grayson, right? The only people to successfully perform the quadruple flip? They seemed like... err they would be... great people, I bet they would be proud." Nico had to cover for himself, he had almost hinted that he had met them. That would have taken a lot of explaining. Nico had actually met them in Elysium, while he was searching for Bianca.

"...Thanks, Nico. I always hate it when people would say 'I'm sorry' you know?" Nico nodded to show that he did know. 

"Yeah, it never seems to quite cover it does it?" Nico agreed wistfully. Richard and Nico spent some more time in the gym, bonding. Nico just got along a lot better with Richard for some reason, and Dick got along well with Nico too.

" Well that was nice, I think that Damian was going to show you his katanas, then you, Alfred, and I, will be going shopping." 

" Ok, where is Damian's room again?" Nico asked turning to leave the gym. Dick found it somewhat odd that Nico didn't question why Dami had swords or why Dick was going shopping with them. He decided not to question it and instead reaffirmed where the Demon brother's room was.

++Nico++

Nico followed Dick's directions to get to Damian's room. When he got to the room he knocked on the door and got a gruff 'enter' in return. He hesitantly complied.

"Oh Nico, it's you," Damian observed, looking up from polishing one of his swords. Nico didn't respond, since the answer was obvious. Damian set his katana, now finished polishing it, back on the rack.

" I wish to show you my sword collection and maybe show you how to handle a katana; no doubt in which style you are unfamiliar with." Nico took several paces into the room, studying it. Upon his examination, he found several odd cuts and scratches on the wall, ceiling, floors, and doors.

"Come this way." Damian led Nico over to his rack of swords that was fixed to the back wall of his walk-in closet. If it hadn't been for the weaponry, Damian could have easily used a much smaller space for clothing.

" Quite the collection you have. Tell me, what is the purpose of the shape and width of the blade?" Nico was genuinely curious about the possible advantages that a blade like this might have. He and Damian got into a long and intelligent discussion about swords and the advantages and disadvantages of using certain blades. Damian was even able to teach Nico the proper stance for using a katana. He had to admit that Nico was a pretty fast learner and a rather intelligent swordsman. Neither of those qualities was evident under normal circumstances or in regular conversation. Damian feared that he may have seriously underrated and underestimated Nico di Angelo.


	5. Soul Searching

After Damian showed him his collection, Dick came upstairs to tell him it was time to go shopping. This was something that Nico was thoroughly dreading. He had never imagined in even his wildest demigod dreams that he would ever go tux shopping. Though since the gala was tonight, and it seemed that he was going to have to attend many other public functions, Nico reluctantly let Dick lead him to the car where Alfred waited. Alfred opened the back door of the car and Richard motioned for Nico to get in. Nico cautiously got in, thanking Alfred as he went. Alfred closed the door behind Dick and got in himself.

Nico looked around at the interior of the car, noting that everything was very high in quality. He guessed that he shouldn't be surprised, it was Bruce's car. He absently wondered whether or not Bruce picked the interior for vanity's sake or for his image. Bruce didn't strike him as a vain man, or a man that had a big ego. Why would he have Custom crystal cups in his limo? Nico stared out the window, caught up in his own thoughts about camp and how their transportation was never as nice as this car.

"Nico?" Dick tapped his shoulder to get his attention.

"What?" Nico asked, sitting up straight and looking at Dick curiously. 

"I was just saying that we'll be there soon. We'll probably need to get you an entirely new wardrobe. Oh, and some dress clothes." Richard said. He seemed to be waiting for Nico's reaction.

Nico sneered at the thought of dress clothes. His annoyance only got worse when Dick added, "Oh! And some clothes that aren't black. Maybe blue?"

"I don't wear blue," Nico said stubbornly, glaring at Dick. Dick seemed surprised by his reaction, or maybe his glare, it was hard to tell. Nico really didn't like blue, simply because it was Percy's favorite color and the boy was obsessed with it. Percy and the Stolls had dyed all of Nico's grey clothes turquoise back at camp a couple of weeks prior and Nico was still mad. He wasn't even sure how they managed it because grey doesn't really change colors usually. Maybe they had gotten the Iris cabin in on it. Those kids were obsessed with tye-dye and color theory.

"Err ok. Maybe red then?" Dick seemed to be grasping for any color that he could get him into. Nico thought about this for a while before slowly nodding in acceptance. If he had to wear some color, red would probably be the one he hated the least. Dick smiled as though he had just won a major award. Nico's mind wandered down the scales of the shades of red.

Nico felt the car slow and he figured that they must be here. His thoughts were confirmed by Dick mere seconds later. When Alfred had parked the car and let the boys out, Nico reluctantly followed his brother into the mall. He had never been to one before and really had no idea what to expect. When he entered the building, his first impression was how many people were there. It was a Monday, didn't most of these people have jobs? He also didn't like how bright the place was, there weren't many shadows to use and it made him feel exposed.

"Com'on Nico, we'll get this over with as quickly as possible," Richard said, almost reading his mind. Nico nodded and followed Richard into a store that he forgot to catch the name of. In this store, He got a couple of pairs of jeans (2 blue and 3 black), 5 shirts (2 being black and 3 red), and another black military jacket (because Dick insisted on it).

The next store that they went into had dress attire. Nico got 2 sets of dress clothes before being allowed to leave the store. By this time Nico was getting somewhat irritable. He allowed himself to be dragged to two more stores before he had had enough. Nico excused himself to the restrooms, getting away from most of the people for at least a few minutes. He slipped himself into one of the single stalled rooms and just stood by the sink. Nico let himself (for lack of better words) calm down from the hustle and bustle of the shoppers. Sort of like recharging his batteries. He wasn't used to being around so many living mortals.

He was so out of it that he didn't realize that he was getting an Iris message until Percy yelled at him. Being startled, Nico scrambled back from the sink, hand going to his pocket for his sword. When Nico looked up, he could see the message hovering in front of the sink and that Percy looked mad.

"Nico! Where in Hades are you? I was worried sick! Chiron IMed me and told me that someone had taken you to Gotham! Gotham of all places! What are you doing there? Are you alright? Did they kidnap you!?" Percy yelled. Before Nico could reply, Percy started yelling again. Calling him irresponsible and acting like what Nico assumed a mother would. Nico felt attacked, it wasn't Percy's place to decide where he could go. He never seemed to care before now. Nico's temper flared at what he saw as hypocrisy. 

"Percy! Shut up! I'm fine I've been adopted by some big shot and I'm not coming back to camp for a while." Bruce called Chiron to get his stuff transferred. Nico hadn't considered that that would raise any red flags.

"What? Nico, you have to come back to camp, people here are worried about you!"

Nico snorted, "Percy, no one at camp cares about me. They all think I'm a freak. I'm starting over here. They are mortals so don't IM me unless there is an apocalypse. Don't ruin this for me ok? I actually have a family that doesn't hate me." Nico then cut off the feed before Percy could reply. He sighed and exited the bathroom. Then he left with a suspicious batboy who had thought he heard voices in the single stalled bathroom. Dick also knew for a fact that Nico didn't have a phone. 

On the way back to the manor, Dick could tell that Nico was feeling depressed, though he had no idea why. Was it the clothes? Dick had tried to make sure that they got items that fit his current style as much as he could. He had even gotten him some cargo pants and some graphic tees while the younger had been in the bathroom as a surprise. Dick decided to tell him about the prank wars in hopes of getting his spirits up.

" So, Nico. The others and I have decided to hold a 'welcome to the family' prank war. You in?" Dick asked leaning forward anxiously in his seat, a mischievous smile plastered on his usually innocent face. Nico looked at the older boy suspiciously. Nico had gotten a lot of training from the Stolls on pranks, but something told him not to underestimate his new brothers. Hesitantly, he agreed. The look on Dick's face was enough to make him regret consenting. Nico felt like he may have signed his own death warrant, and he knew what he was talking about.

"What are the rules?" Nico asked, hoping that there were some ground rules already laid out.

" None of those bathroom pranks, dyeing of clothes, and nothing that could cause injury... I think that's it." Richard said listing them off as the brothers had agreed on them.

" Since it is already late, we will start the war tomorrow," Dick added as an afterthought. Nico grinned evilly, which left a lot of options open still. He was going to have a lot of fun. Dick seemed really creeped out at Nico's smile.

"Oh no, what have we done?" Richard said as Nico just smirked knowingly. Alfred pulled the car into the manor's drive and the boys both headed inside. Once inside they were swarmed by the other three boys. After some chatter, they all agreed to start the prank war the next morning.

Nico excused himself from the group early and headed to his room to put away his new clothes-- the conversation with Percy still fresh in his mind. He couldn't believe that Percy had the audacity to think that he could boss him around. Nico didn't take orders from anyone, much less that upstart son of Poseidon. He sighed, he had started to sound like his father again. Percy's disapproval almost made Nico want to stay even more. Percy didn't even know what he was talking about. No one at camp cared about him. No one, not even his own biological family wanted him. Bianca had left him for a group of immortal man-and-brother-hating-maidens, and his father told him that he was disappointed in him several times.

When he thought about it, he couldn't come to accept that the Wayne's wanted him either. They had such a big family already, why would they want him? They especially wouldn't want him after they learned his secret. They'd drop him back on the street and then he'd be alone again. He could go back to living in the Underworld, but it was really lonely down there and he was always walking on eggshells around Persephone and Demeter when they visited. A few hours passed before he slipped into a fitful sleep. Of course, he dreamed.

This dream was different than most of his others. This time he was running through the streets of Gotham, desperately running from someone. He ran down the street but it felt like he was running through molasses. He turned the corner and came up short at the sight. He saw Dick lying in the street with Batman kneeling over him. Jason and Tim were standing over him as well. Damian was yelling at Batman. Nico couldn't tell what he was saying. He tried to approach but he was dragged into a different scene.

In this part of the dream, Nico was stuck in place, being an unwilling bystander. He was planted on a roof, watching an odd group of boys in front of him. They were all wearing hero get-ups and watching the streets silently. Nico saw that the night was calm and there really wasn't any reason for him to be there. Suddenly, an acute sense of danger washed over him and he knew that these boys were in grave danger. He opened his mouth to warn them but moments later the roof exploded, scattering the boys every which way.

Nico awoke with the need to save these strangers and that his new family was in danger. He sat up in his bed, threw off the covers, and slipped into a pair of black cargo pants (these actually fit) and a long-sleeved (supposed to be skin-tight) shirt. He put on one of his new pairs of shoes. He tightened his belt and grabbed his military jacket and camp necklace before going out into the hall. He had no idea where he was planning on going. He didn't know who those people were in his dreams. He didn't even know if this was a demigod dream or a regular dream. Why did everything have to feel prophetic?

He found himself right outside Dick's door. The dream of Batman standing over him was too vivid to push away. He needed to know that he was alright. Instead of trying to go in and risking waking him, Nico practiced one of the new skills that he had discovered. He thought of it as 'Soul Searching'. He pressed his hands on Dick's door to steady himself and he reached out with his mind to see if he could sense Richard's soul in the room.

Soul searching would be best described as thermal imaging. Nico couldn't tell what objects were in the room, or what the room looked like, but normally Nico would be able to 'see' the person's soul. A soul would appear as a humanoid blob of color. Sort of like colored ghosts or thermal imaging echoes. They had no definition, except maybe a silhouette. At most, he could tell whether they were male or female. Without anything to clue him in, Nico could still tell whose soul he was looking at, even if he had never met the person. The skill had come in handy many times before.

After several minutes of searching, Nico concluded that not only was Dick not in his room, he wasn't even in the manor. Neither was Bruce or the other boys. Alfred, however, was still in his room. Nico was feeling panicky now, where were they? Were they ok? Why weren't they in the Manor? Nico traveled through the pitch-black manor (he always could see in the dark) until he got to a room on the second floor that he could escape from through the window. The boys had shown it to him when he first arrived as a spare guest bedroom.

Nico could always shadow travel of course, but he didn't know how much more he would be needing his powers that night and didn't want to take the risk. He jumped down from the balcony, tucking and rolling to safely disperse his momentum. Looks like all that time spent at camp had been worth it after all. He cloaked himself in shadows and ran several blocks towards the main city.

Nico had no idea where to start looking, Gotham was a large and crime-ridden city. Taking a risk, Nico used his powers to search for Dick anywhere in the city. Nico instantly felt a stab of pain in his brain, he had never attempted a search this big before. It took a lot of concentration to keep up the search despite the pain.

Luckily, Nico was quickly able to pinpoint Dick's soul. Dick's soul was a glowing blue color. Around him, there was a green blotch, Damian. Next to Damian, there was a charcoal grey soul, Bruce. Then one crimson red one, Jason. The last was a bright cherry red, Tim. Nico let the search drop and raced towards their general direction, being sure to keep his footfalls as silent as he could. It was a cool night, seeing as it still was the fall season in Gotham. Nico shivered, despite the clothes that he had picked out specifically for their insulating properties. 

Nico felt on edge as he slunk around Gotham's creepy streets. Several times he had to completely cloak himself in shadows to avoid the detection of your average petty crook. Every so often, he would stop and re-adjust his course to follow them to their new location. They were moving around quite a bit. After quite a while of searching, Nico came upon the area that he sensed them at. If his powers weren't failing, they should be just around this corner. Nico silently edged himself up to the corner, glancing around it cautiously. He didn't want Bruce to catch him and get mad at him on his second day at the manor. 

To his surprise, no one was on the street. Nico conducted his search again but came up with the same results. The five of them were on that street. Nico, being the ground - dweller that he is never thought to look up. If he had, he may have found out the secret that the batfam kept so closely guarded.

Feeling confused and somewhat angry, Nico made a small shadow jump to the cemetery where he had first landed. Nico didn't feel like going home quite yet, and he wanted to see if he could still sense souls. His powers had yet to fail him before tonight. He stepped numbly out of the shadows of the mausoleum, relaxing as he walked through his own element. As he walked, a thought struck him, the other boys were orphans, were their parents here? Would it be wrong of him to check?

Nico walked through the cemetery, as though he were as comfortable as an actor was on a stage. He searched through the stones until he found the right ones. There he stood in front of the tombs of Mary and John Grayson. He loved speaking to the couple. They always told him great stories about their circus days and asked about their little boy. Nico would always have to tell them that he hadn't met him yet but he hoped that one day they would. It seemed to Nico that the fates were kinder to the Graysons after they had died, as they brought him right to their son.

Nico stood and was about to walk out of the graveyard but two voices called out to him. He turned, compelled to listen to what they had to say. The voices were pleading, asking for attention. They sounded desperate. Nico could sense that the voices were not a danger and followed them. As he did, he approached a large tombstone that read the names of Bruce's parents (for story purposes they were buried in the cemetery). He knelt by the base of the tomb and could hear their spirits calling out to him, asking him to watch over their boy. Nico, being the hero he was, promised that he'd try. 

Nico stood and checked his watch, seeing that it was well past time to get back to the manor. Deeming it safe, he shadow traveled back to his room, collapsing on his bed as soon as he had slipped out of his heavy clothing. Almost instantly he was asleep. he had overused his powers tonight and it was definitely taking a toll on him. 

Luckily for him, he was asleep only minutes before Bruce came in the check on him before laying down the mantle for the night.


	6. "So Not Asterous"

The next morning started early for Nico, he was awoken by the sounds of his tumblers aligning and the creak of the door hinge. At first, Nico thought that it was an intruder, but when he soul searched and was notified that it was Jason in his room. The use of his powers made his headache worse. He had really used them too much the night before and his body was going to punish him for it. 

Nico closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep as he remembered that the prank wars started today. Nico had to fight to keep the smirk off his face as Jason struggled to get to the bed without making noise. The floorboards were old and they creaked very easily-- which was both a blessing and a curse. At the moment, Nico had no complaints. 

Suddenly, there was a weird feeling and his hand and Nico could distinctly smell shaving cream. It didn't take a genius to realize that Jason had put shaving cream on his hand, hoping that he would smear it across his own face. When Jason dragged the feather across his upper lip, Nico made sure to shift and grunt, trying to make it authentic. Jason tried it again, receiving the same results. The last time, Todd got careless and leaned close enough to Nico's face that he could feel Jason's warm breath in his face.

This time, Nico brought his hand up and smeared the cream right down the middle of Jason's face, being sure to get it all off on the older boy. As Jason realized what had happened, Nico was already locking himself in his bathroom, getting ready to shower, having left his change clothes in the bathroom the night before. As Jason was muttering curses, Nico was humming happily as he stepped into the shower. When he left the bathroom, he was surprised to see that Jason had left. Though, Nico suspected that he hadn't left without leaving him a surprise. Nico suspiciously looked above the door to see if Todd had left anything there, surprisingly, he hadn't. These were no amateurs. 

Nico walked carefully through his room, looking everywhere for potential traps. He was surprised and suspicious when his inspection came up negative. He slowly headed for the door, intending in going downstairs to breakfast which was probably going to start soon. As Nico reached out to touch his doorknob, he hesitated. He stared at the doorknob for a minute, trying to decide if such a mundane item could be rigged. After a minute, Nico felt silly. It was just a doorknob, the Stolls had never done anything with doorknobs except put superglue on them. Nico couldn't smell or see any super glue on the handle. Nico stood there for another minute, debating using the door or going out his window.

He decided that he was acting like a fool and reached out to grab the handle. He had almost grabbed it when he felt the hairs on his arm stand up as he got closer to the handle. Static electricity. Jason had electrified his doorknob. Ok, at least now Nico didn't feel like a fool for being overly cautious. To make sure he was right and it wasn't just static, Nico touched the back of his hand to the knob. The idea was that, if the door was electrified, his muscles would contract and his arm would bend away from the door and break the circuit. Just as he suspected, his hand jerked away as soon as it touched the handle, he rubbed his stinging hand.

Nico looked around his room for things that he could use to wrap his hands with. He figured that it wasn't very high voltage, but touching the knob to try to open the door meant accepting a defeat. Nico wouldn't let that happen. Nico crept over to the trunk at the end of his bed, searching for his non-conductive combat gloves They were made with cotton, nylon, and polyester which weren't very good conductors. Once he had found them, he went back to the door. The gloves didn't have fingers so he put his hands on either side of the knob-- being sure to keep his fingers straight-- and twisted. When it opened, Jason jumped at him and yelled 'HA!'. The rest of the batboys were there as well, watching on in amusement. 

Nico laughed as he saw Jason's smirk drop when he saw the gloves on his hands, "No way! How did you not fall for that!?" Nico glanced at the other boys who also seemed very surprised as well. Oh great, he blew it again.

" I uh, had a friend a while back that loved messing with electricity and there are two boys at the camp I go to that love pranks. I have a lot of experience with being pranked." Nico said, embarrassed that all the attention was once again on him.

" Well boys, we can up our game! Nico seems more than ready to handle it." Dick said wrapping one arm around Jason and the other around Damian. None of the boys missed how Nico grinned evilly. The boys called a temporary truce to eat.

"Ok guys, we have to add some rules: all pranks are to stay upstairs until after the gala, and no pranking during the gala either," Dick said after breakfast. Dick held up his hands to stop the protests from both Jason and Tim, "by request of Alfred."

" Fine." The two boys said dejectedly. No one dared defy the will of Alfred in this house. Not only would you get it from Bruce (or so I am told), you would also get a lecture from Alfred about courtesy and manners. Once was enough, according to Jason. 

"Ok, I'm going to the orchard," Nico said. Without waiting for a reply, he pivoted on his heel and made his way out to the back of the house. Nico had to do some planning. He had been shown around the grounds during his tour and decided that the orchard would be the most private place at the manor. It was also really nice to be a part of nature for a while and pretend that he was free of the supernatural world for a while.

Nico remembered something that Beckendorf had been designing before he died. It was a mosquito-killing centaur. He wasn't good with machinery but had always been great at assembling things with instructions. He figured that, if he could recreate the automaton, it would be great to set it loose on his brothers. He just needed to call in a favor. 

Nico used a hose by the greenhouse to make a rainbow that he used to contact Nyssa. She said something about a curse and said that it would take her a couple of hours to replace the celestial bronze with copper or plastic, and the arrows with Nerf darts. Nico thanked her and told her that he would be by that night to get it. Until then, he was going to have to keep the others occupied. Nico was about to head inside to go and start phase one, but he was stopped by the first monster he's come in contact with since he'd been there. This monster, though, wasn't quite as frightening as it probably should have been.

"Demigod!" Nico turned, grabbing his skull ring that Chiron had sent. When he looked, he was confronted by a dracaena (sp?).

" Sssssurrender now Demigod! Kronossss will return and overthrow the godssssss!" Nico stared at her in confusion, his fear turning to wariness. This poor thing was obviously very lost. It had been well over a month since the last titan battle. How she had gotten so far off course was a mystery. 

" Um, sorry to ruin your party, but we already sent him back to Tartarus. Go root for some other evil being." The snake woman eyed him suspiciously. 

" Are you ssssssure?" It asked, her snake-like trunks twining around anxiously. Nico nodded seriously, almost having a civil conversation with her. He didn't know why she should believe anything he told her, but she didn't seem to think twice about it. 

" Oh, ok. I ssssssupport... " the woman trailed off in thought. 

"Hades?" Nico suggested helpfully, "he is the most feared god!"

" Yessss! I ssssupport Hadesssss!" She hissed.

" Good! Me too!" Nico said, trying not to laugh.

" You do?"

"Oh, of course! He is the greatest!" Nico desperately hoped that the other gods would either realize that he was biased or that he was doing it as an act of self-preservation. Gods tended to get jealous very easily.

" Very well, fine demigod. I ssssshall go and create the posssstersssss now!" She said, raising her spear as though it was a protest sign.

" Posters?" He asked-- now thoroughly confused.

" Yesss! All enemiesss will cower in front of my terrifying possssstersssss!" The dracaena left the yard, talking to herself about how she was going to find posters at the bargain mart. Nico stood still for several long seconds, trying to understand what had just transpired. He shook his head finally, deciding that he would rather not know. He was worried that, if he began to understand monsters, he might develop a taste for demigods.

"Nico!" Nico looked back towards Bruce and Dick, who was running his way, looking concerned. 

" Yeah? What is it?" Nico asked once they got within earshot.

"Who was that?" Dick asked, gesturing in the direction that the snake woman had just left. He didn't seem scared so Nico guessed that he didn't see her actual form. That was a blessing at least. 

"Oh her? She was just a confused old lady who asked if I knew where a bargain mart was." With that, Nico left two very confused bats in his wake. Nico made it safely through the house and to his room without falling prey to any traps. That's not saying that the other boys weren't trying. He had work to do.

Nico grabbed his elongated spring that he took from an old car and a whipped cream pie and set to work. When he had finished, the spring was attached to the floor. On top of it was the pie. The spring was bent so that when released it would shoot the pie at the door. There was a string attached to the doorknob, which ran through a hook in the wall. The string then ran across the room to his bedpost, where he has embedded a dagger. When the door opened, the dagger would cut the string and send the pie flying. He had just finished setting it up when a knock came from the door.

" Yes?" Nico called out curiously. Then Bruce's voice came from outside his door, requesting entry. Nico frowned at the door, if it really was Bruce, he was going to have to disassemble his trap. Nico used his soul searching ability to look through the door and saw Dick standing out there. It was a prank. 

"Hold on, I've got to take down the water balloons. " Nico lied. Dick chuckled in Bruce's voice. Nico replicated the sounds of what he thought would make his lie plausible. After a couple of minutes, he called out, "enter."

The tumblers clicked and the door was thrust open. Dick stood in the doorway, a nerf bow in hand. Before Dick could fire, Nico's contraption did its work. Just as Dick released the arrow, he was caught in the chest with a pie. Nico had slightly underestimated how high the pie needed to 

The arrow that Dick had shot caught Nico right between the eyes, making a very loud automated explosion sound. Both boys fell to the floor, looking at the other dumbfounded. Slowly, the pair busted up into laughter. Nico had never laughed so hard in his life, he almost enjoyed the feeling. Though he would deny it if anyone ever asked.

Dick sat up and smiled at Nico, "This is so not asterous." Nico looked at the boy in confusion before deciding not to ask. Hearing the commotion, the other boys rushed onto the scene. It took them a couple of moments to take in what had happened but they were all surprised at how clever the pie contraption was. They never would have guessed that Nico was capable of coming up with something like that. What surprised them the most was that Nico was laughing.

His laugh was angelic, nothing like Dick's creepy yet endearing cackle, or Joker's sadistic evil laugh. The batboys all enjoyed his laugh and made it a goal to hear that laugh more often. Nico's laugh put everyone in a good mood (even the demon spawn).

" So, how did you get a pie stuck to your chest, Grayson?" Damian asked, trying to conceal his smirk. All the batboys knew very well how it had happened, they just thought it would be interesting to hear Nico's side of the story.

"Well..." Dick recounted his end of the story step by step. He made it sound a lot more dramatic than it actually was, but he put undue emphasis on the exaggerated parts so that no one mistook them for a fact.

"...Nico said that he was going to take down the water balloons. Once he said to come in..." Dick trailed off. Nico glanced up. The other boys were looking at Dick in confusion as well.

" How did you know it was me?" Dick asked.

" Hmm?" Nico asked, pretending to not understand while he desperately tried to figure out a plausible cover. He looked at Dick's shoes. The soles were bright blue. He could say that he saw them under the door. He had always been quick on his feet. 

" You know, how did you know that it wasn't Bruce?"

"I could see the soles of your shoes from beneath the door." Nico lied smoothly. Dick nodded, accepting the answer. Dick went on to recount the rest of the story. The boys worked together to clean up the stray pieces of pie and to disassemble Nico's trap while Dick went off to shower. After they had done that, they made a temporary truce to have a meeting in the library.

" Ok," Tim said eagerly, holding several different colors of markers. Along one of the walls was a whiteboard, where Tim had written each boy's name, "This is the scoreboard, so far Nico is up by two, with Dick in second with one prank." Nico looked at his opponents, they all were looking at the board with determination. He figured that he would become the main target, he would have to watch his back.

"Alfred has requested that we hold off on any more pranks until after the gala, so we don't ruin anything. So I propose a truce until tomorrow and 6 A.M, to be enacted now."

"Why six?" Jason complained, "Why not just until the party is over?"

"So no one gets a head start Todd! Duh!" Tim growled, using Damian's name for his brother.

"Shut up Drake," Jason growled. Timothy glared at Jason angrily. Those two always seemed to just be angry at each other. Jason was always just angry in general. It wouldn't take much for things to escalate. There was some bad blood between the two of them for some reason and it seemed pretty serious.

"Stop asking stupid questions!" Tim snapped. Then Jason lunged, hands outstretched. The two boys rolled across the floor, ending with Jason on top. Not thinking, Jason put both of his knees on Tim's chest. Nico instinctually knew that he had to break them up. He knew that Jason's body weight would crush Tim's ribcage. In all likelihood, he would puncture his lung and could have serious internal bleeding, if the rib cage didn't completely crush his organs. Instantaneous death. Without hesitation, Nico lunged forward and shoved Jason off of Tim. Everyone except Nico froze as Tim laid still on the floor groaning and clutching his chest. Nico immediately knelt and forced the younger boy's hands away from his chest. Nico set his hands on Drake's sternum, feeling for any breaks.

Nico didn't pay any mind to the strange looks that he was getting from all the bat kids. Once he had determined that the worst that had happened was a bruised rib, Nico stood and glared at Jason, surprising them all.

"Are you stupid?" Nico's voice was cold. 

"Wha--?" Jason's mouth opened to form a question but Nico cut him off.

"Do you have any idea what you're doing? You are almost twice his size. Do you have any idea what kind of damage a person your size could do?" Nico was snarling now, he turned away from the now scared Jason and offered Tim and hand up. Tim accepted it warily, being gently yet firmly, pulled to his feet.

" You're lucky that you only got a bruised rib," Nico sent another cold glare towards Jason, "It could have been much worse." With that, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and exited the room. The rest of the boys were left speechless-- Nico's words were like a slap to the face. The middle child hadn't said so, but they had all gotten the message. Jason could have killed Tim. 

++Batfam++

"Are you ok?" Jason cleared his throat. It was hard to tell if his voice was thick from emotion or disuse, but either way, they could tell he was taking Nico's warning seriously. they all were.

" Yeah... I'm good." Tim assured him. Tim was a little shaken by the event himself. He could have died? The group left to talk the even over with Bruce to see what he made of it all.

" I really could have..." Jason trailed off wide-eyed. He knew what it was like to die and he wouldn't wish that fate on Tim, even if he was bitter about being replaced. They had recounted the scene to Bruce and he had agreed with Nico's assessment of the situation.

" What Nico said was right. You boys need to be more careful sometimes. Though as to how he knew all that, I'm not sure."

" Father, do you think he could have had training of some kind?" Damian asked.

" I don't know but I intend to find out. I was researching him on the bat computer, he was in a military school with his sister a few years ago. They ran away and his sister was later sighted at a museum with some other teens. They trashed the air and space exhibit. Later, the same teens were spotted in New Mexico but his sister was nowhere to be seen. I have reason to believe that she died sometime on that journey. "

" But father, where was Nico in all of that?" Damian asked again. 

" I have no idea. From the day he ran away from the academy he was missing and presumed dead. Somehow, he just dropped off the grid until he was spotted in New York's central park with two other teens a little while ago. Both of them had been seen with his sister before she disappeared. One has been the subject of multiple manhunts." Bruce replied. The boys took a couple of minutes to take that all in.

" Wow, that's a little suspicious," Dick said. He knew it was more than a little suspicious, but he wanted to give Nico the benefit of the doubt. There was a brief minute of silence while Bruce scrolled through some data on his computer and no one else knew what to say. 

" Where are the two other teens now?" Jason asked. He still seemed shaken but was coming around quickly.

" One has been spotted in just about every forest preserve in the country, while the other one is still in New York. Manhattan I believe."

"Why don't we ask him about it. Say something like you did some research and saw that he had a sister?" Tim asked. Bruce shook his head and opened his mouth to give a reason but was cut off by Dick.

" No," Dick said, "if he wants us to know, he'll tell us. Pressing him will only make him clam up." Bruce nodded in confirmation.

" Go on boys, go and bond with him. The faster he trusts you, the faster we get answers. Don't be mad Jason. He was probably more worried about Tim than he was angry at you." Bruce shooed them all along.

++Jason++

The boys found Nico sitting outside, beneath a weeping willow. Nico stood as he saw them approaching. For a moment Jason thought that he was going to make a run for it but Nico stayed put.

" Hey, Nico," Dick called out as he led the rest of them towards the boy. Nico just nodded in reply, he seemed to be gauging everyone's body language to see where they all stood. Jason couldn't blame him, he was doing the same thing to him.

" Hey, guys. I'm uh sorry. I overreacted. I was just concerned." Nico muttered as he glanced at everyone, in turn, his eyes settling at last on Jason. Jason understood that Nico was asking for forgiveness. Jason nodded, relieved that Nico wasn't mad at him anymore.

" It's ok, we get it. You were right, though. Why don't we kill the next 2 hours with a movie before the gala?" Dick said calmingly. He glanced at everyone in turn. Everyone consented.

" What is your favorite movie, Nico?" Tim asked as he walked back into the manor. Nico stiffened, he had never seen a movie.

"I don't have one." He replied, his voice somewhat strained. Jason glanced at him curiously. How did he not have one? It stands to reason that he might not have one, obviously, he hadn't had the best upbringing and with his time off the grid and such. Nico was an Interesting case that he hoped he could someday find the answer to.


	7. Diana Prince

The boys went inside and settled down on the couch. Nico found a spot on the edge of the group in an armchair by himself so that none of the others would feel obligated to sit with him. Meanwhile, the batboys were arguing about what movies to watch. Eventually, they all decided that it had been a while since they had watched Disney's Hercules. Apparently, they had decided that Disney was a safe bet and Nico didn't know enough to disagree. 

Jason and Dick grabbed popcorn and other snacks. They each took a spot on the couch, having little arguments about who got there first. Dick started the movie while the rest of the boys relaxed and watched. They seemed so comfortable together and it made Nico wish that he could have had that sort of a relationship with Bianca before she had died. When they were young, Bianca had always taken care of him, acting more like a mother than a sister. They had never gotten the chance to just be siblings and it was times like these that he wondered what he had missed out on. 

As the movie kept going, Nico got increasingly agitated. He had begun to realize that there was nothing accurate about the film except that the hero was a guy named Hercules. At one point in the movie (the part that Hades first appears). Nico got really angry. It was all Nico could do to sit still and not scream at the TV. He wasn't doing so great at the sitting still portion. He didn't have the patience for long films or anything that required him to pay attention to the same thing for a long period of time. He decided that he wasn't that big of a fan of movies. 

The boys either must've seen his reaction or they too got bored of the movie because Dick turned it off before it was finished and they all decided to go play hide and seek. For some reason, the boys felt the need to ban the vents and the chandelier as hiding places. He found that to be very odd, who would hide in a chandelier? Though considering that he had never considered them as potential havens, he had no problem following the rules. 

Nico knew exactly where he would hide. As Dick counted, Nico snuck off to a hidden area he had found when looking for places to set up his pranks. The Wayne Manor had a safe room. There was a panel in his room behind his dresser. Dick would never find him there. He had found it by accident when he had shadow traveled. Instead of landing on his bed, he appeared in this little room instead. Needless to say, he was excited by the find. It would be a great place to store godly supplies.

He removed the bottom and back pieces of the 3 drawers that were in the way of the panel. This way, he could get in and out whenever he wanted. He did this as quickly and quietly as he could, setting the drawer parts beneath his covers on his bed. He had just slipped the panel closed as he heard Dick's feet racing through the hallway. Nico heard the door to his room open, he had to suppress his breathing. Dick searched through his closet and every other logical place in his room before humming in confusion and leaving. Nico just smirked to himself and slipped the panel back open slightly to make sure that there was room for airflow. The room wasn't all that spacious and he had no desire to die from CO2 poisoning.

He used his soul searching abilities to watch Dick get close to the other boys and eventually finding them. Soon, everybody had been found except Nico. Nico crawled out of his hiding place, carefully closed the panel, and slipped the drawer pieces back into place. Nico crept out onto his balcony, leaning back against the railing, watching his door. He knew that they would eventually make their way back up here.

When he used his powers, he saw the brothers turning the place upside down looking for him. He smiled to himself and waited for them to come to find him. After an hour, they finally came back into Nico's room and found him sitting on the balcony railing watching the streets. There was hardly any traffic around this neighborhood. He turned to face the door when he heard his brother's incredulous cry.

"What!? I already checked here! Where were you?" Dick exclaimed incredulously. Nico smirked and spoke,

" That is for me to know, and you to wonder at eternally." Nico quoted. (I read that somewhere). Nico laughed at their annoyed eyes. A newbie just beat Dick at hiding and seek. Not too long after they finished hide and seek, Nico was all dressed up in a nice white button-up, fancy jacket, and slacks. He was very, VERY, uncomfortable and had decided to send the guy who had created suits to the Fields Of Punishment. Maybe he could make one for Charon.

Luckily, everyone else seemed just as uncomfortable as he was so no one poked fun at him. He sat in his room on his bed, examining the centaur figurine he had gone and gotten not too long before. In fact, he had just made it back about 20 minutes ago. The automaton was exactly how Beckendorf had described it, but it had a plastic exterior instead of metal. Nico decided to keep the blueprints and to use them in his cover on how he came to have it. He would say that a friend of his at camp designed it and gave it to him as a going-away present when he was 'adopted'. It could have just come with the stuff that Chiron had sent over from camp, after all. 

He looked appreciatively at the special nerf arrows that the centaur shot, the tips exploded, spreading glitter over anyone he hit. In his opinion, it was pure genius. Nico stashed the robot in his secret room before heading downstairs to wait with the others. He came up behind the bunch silently.

" So, boys Diana Prince will be here tonight, she is coming early to help set up the party."

" Who's that?" Nico asked, startling both Tim and Jason. He was highly amused at this, he hadn't even been trying to be stealthy

" We need to put some bells on you!" Jason exclaimed. Nico glanced in his direction, unamused. [Ha ha ha ha ha ha!]

" Who is Diana Prince?" Nico repeated. 

" Wonder Woman? You don't know about her? Have you been living under a rock?" Tim asked incredulously. 

" Sorry, it wasn't like I had access to the news where I was. I didn't get to go out much... my father wouldn't let me." Nico mumbled the last part, hoping that they would hear him. He hoped that he could lead them towards thinking that his father was abusive. That was the cover that Hades had given him after all. By the looks that they exchanged between each other, they had heard it. Good.

"Well, she is a part of the Justice League. You know... Batman, Superman, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Arrow, Aquaman, Wonder Woman... them?" Nico gave them a look that said he didn't know about them. That made them think that Nico's father may have been worse than Nico had hinted at. What kind of kid didn't know about the Justice League? They had saved the world multiple times. Statistically speaking, it was almost impossible no to at least have heard of them at this point.

"Nico, if you don't mind my asking, what were your parent's names?" Damian asked cautiously, knowing that he was treading on eggshells.

" Haden and Maria di Angelo," Nico asked, looking at Damian suspiciously. Damian nodded and let the matter drop. Just then the doorbell rang. Bruce opened the door to reveal the third and lesser-known aspect of his least favorite goddess. She stepped in with a smile on her face until she spotted Nico.

Her smile dropped immediately and a look of shock replaced it, "Nico?"

Everyone who had been looking at Diana now looked at Nico. Nico crossed his arms and glared, " Lady Diana." He said curtly. Diana pursed her lips at his tone, her face grew apologetic. Logically, Nico knew that this was not the same aspect of the goddess that conned his sister into joining her band of immortal hunters, but that didn't make him any less angry. Diana looked at him with regret and sadness. She knew just as well as anyone that children of Hades were good at holding grudges.

"You two know each other?" Bruce asked. His voice sounded suspicious.

"More than I'd like to," Nico said gruffly. His brothers looked at him with various looks of surprise and one look of indifference. 

"Nico! Be polite!" Dick chastised.

"No no, he's fine. We have an ah... complicated history. I actually think that he is handling himself quite well." Diana praised, avoiding eye contact with Bruce. Nico kept watching Diana as she was led inside and her coat stored somewhere by Alfred. Then they all congregated in the foyer, awkward silence hung thickly in the air.

"Nico, look. I know that you are still upset and with good reason. Though remember what your father said about grudges." Nico just stared for a minute, processing the fact that she had taken a quote from Bianca and accredited it to Hades. Nico remained silent and expressionless. Diana sighed, "look, what happened was not my fault, can we restart? Act like this is the first time we met?"

Nico considered it for a moment, staring Diana down trying to determine if she could be trusted. What she had said was true. The aspect of Artemis known as Diana Prince was not to blame for Bianca's death. He slowly reached his hand out to Diana, who smiled at him gratefully. She took his hand and shook it twice, she had a firm grip. Bruce looked at Nico with a newfound interest. He was surprised that the issue was resolved so quickly and relatively calmly. Nico was a puzzle that he was determined to solve. He would have bet anything before this that Nico would be one to walk away when asked for forgiveness. He wouldn't have been wrong either.

Minutes later, the flow of guests started to arrive and they were all dragged to the door to greet them. It was all Nico could do not to run at how many people there were in one place. Diana stayed by him the entire time, knowing him better than any of the Wayne's did. She knew how uncomfortable he was, and she had a lot of experience with demigods. Several thousand years worth, in fact. Herconnection to Artemis and the demigod world was complicated. Diana wasn't really another Aspect of Artemis exactly. It was more like Artemis had given one of her separate slivers of consciousness a new identity with powers and a totally new life. It was still part of the moon goddess, but yet it was still mostly independent. Yet this version of the goddess had no such vows of chastity or maidenhood. Though, the distrust of the male population remained the same.

Diana kept close to Nico, subtly putting a hand on his shoulder whenever someone addressed him directly. She was also there for the short interview with the press. Diana gained a portion of Nico's respect when she successfully pulled him out of completing the interview. The reporters were asking highly personal questions that left him feeling sick and humiliated. Every time a reporter asked an inappropriate question Diana would step in and do her best to either redirect the question or help him answer in a way that wouldn't embarrass him too much. 

"Thanks." He muttered, flustered. Diana laughed lightly, and Nico decided that he was liking this version of Diana. She didn't seem anything like the goddess that convinced his sister to join the hunt. She didn't hate men, talk down to him like he was stupid, or call him 'male' or 'boy' all the time. It was refreshing. She especially didn't look like Artemis wearing the ankle-length black dress, black high heels, and her wrist guards. Diana had turned her lasso into a fashionable belt and she wore a plain silver tiara instead of her traditional one with the red star.

" No problem young man. I at least owe you that." Nico chuckled before heading off to find a secluded corner to hide in. He stayed in his corner for nearly an hour before anyone bothered him. A girl with long blonde hair pulled back in a low ponytail approached him cautiously, her posture suggested confidence and her gaze was fierce. She was a fighter, no doubt about it. She was wearing a forest green knee-length dress with matching wedged heels. He didn't recognize her.

"Hey, so you're Wayne's new kid, right?" She asked, coming into range. Nico nodded politely. He hoped this conversation wouldn't last long, he didn't have much charge left on his social battery.

"And you are?"

"Oh! I'm Artemis. I am a friend of Dick's we both went to Gotham Academy together." She explained, her voice a little gruff, probably from over-use. Nico nodded simply. He found her name funny but he didn't dare mention it. She seemed like the type to get mad about stuff like that.

[Ok, I know that they should have gone through the Reach stuff but in this story, they haven't. The story will be mostly focusing on Nico's life and not on the young justice team. They will make a couple of appearances though. I did this because Wally must live and I don't want the lasting resentment towards Dick.]

" Not very talkative are you?" She asked teasingly, but not in a mean or condescending way.

" No, not really. Sorry." Nico didn't know why he apologized, he just felt like he should. Artemis smiled lightly then drifted off. There was something interesting about her, but Nico didn't care enough to investigate.

Nico began to tire of the party shortly thereafter. Diana noticed this when she was making her rounds through the crowd of guests. She sought him out and told him that Bruce wouldn't mind if he skipped out early at his first gala. Nico nodded and asked her to tell Bruce for him. Diana gave a kind smile and assured him that she would. Just as Nico was getting to the base of the stairs, something had to interrupt his escape. In this case, it was an evil cackle. Not just any cackle though, one from his least favorite clown. Well, probably Gotham's least favorite clown.

" BRUCIE!" the insane Joker called waving the gun in his hands around. Bruce was at the center of the congregation, looking up at the Joker angrily. 

He called out, "What do you want, Joker?"

"Oh, I want to play of course! There was absolutely nothing on at the movies! Can you believe that!?" He cackled again.

" Leave here Joker. Leave before I call in the Justice League." Diana warned, standing protectively in front of Bruce. Nico was suddenly glad for the Amazon's presence. Had Bruce known that something like this would happen? Is that why he enlisted Wonder Woman's help?

"Ooooh! I'm so scared!" Joker cried, looking terrified for almost a full second before bursting out into laughter. Diana took a step closer warningly.

" Ok! Ok! I'll leave... but not before I meet this new member of the family. You got another child and didn't think to tell his Uncle J the news?" Bruce stepped up beside Diana.

" You leave him alone, Joker," Bruce growled. Nico felt like he was in a very vulnerable position. He slowly crouched so that he was behind the crowd. Nico made his way over to a very shadowy corner. If he had to, he could shadow travel out. Nico was surprised when people actually shifted to try to give him more coverage as he made his way to the corner. 

" Oooh! So mean, I only wanted to say hello! Where is he anyway?" Nico had almost decided to Shadow travel before he was spotted when a tall, broad-shouldered man stepped directly in front of him, completely blocking Nico from sight. Nico took the risk of closing his eyes and used his powers to see that the guy was named Oliver Queen. He was one of Bruce's associates, Nico seemed to recall hearing something about him being from Star city. A friend then.

"Keep low, kid," Oliver whispered discreetly. Nico dipped his head slightly though he knew that Oliver couldn't see him. The Joker made a humming noise of disappointment.

"Hiding is he? Very well, I'll catch him some other time." Joker then raced straight out the front door, laughing loudly. Oliver quickly turned around and helped Nico to his feet, though he didn't need it. Nico allowed himself to be led through the crowd to where Bruce and Diana stood, looking for him.

" Nico!" Diana called as soon as she spotted him. Bruce turned and looked in the direction she had indicated. Once he spotted Nico he smiled and looked relieved to see him. Nico was surprised by this for some reason, though he supposed it was a normal response. 

"Good, you're alright. I think Joker has successfully crashed this party, what do you think?" Bruce asked, looking at him. Nico smirked and nodded. He was so done with this whole affair.

"Where did you hide?" Diana asked curiously. She was asking if he had used his powers. He subtly shook his head. Diana took a moment to look relieved and then started dusting off his pristine jacket.

"Behind him," Nico replied, jerking his head towards Mr. Queen. The man was about the same height as Bruce and of a similar build. A look of understanding passed between them. They were definitely more than just business associates, then.

"Ah yes, Oliver Queen. Thank you very much for your help." Bruce said, shaking his hand.

"Nothing you wouldn't have done for Roy, Bruce," Oliver said, smiling wistfully. Bruce nodded in confirmation then turned to announce that the party was over and thanking everyone for coming.

As people filed out, Diana pulled him aside, "Does Bruce know?" Nico didn't have to ask about what she meant. He shook his head.

" No, and he will have to guess it on his own. I'm under oath." Nico replied. Diana nodded in understanding. 

"One more thing, why didn't you just shadow travel away?" She asked quietly.

" I was going to but then Oliver blocked me like a meat shield. Then I didn't need to anymore. I was only going to risk it as a last ditch effort." 

"Good choice, it would have been suspicious if you had just disappeared." Diana led Nico back towards the others. 

"You all good?" Dick asked in concern. He looked over the younger boy carefully. Nico wasn't entirely sure what he was looking for, but he didn't mind it. 

" Yeah. I'm fine," Nico said calmly. He didn't say anything else which surprised Richard.

" Weren't you scared?" Tim asked.

" Not really, I was at the very back of the crowd." This got their attention. All of the boys were afraid of the Joker. They were mostly afraid of him because he had tortured and killed Jason, and had tortured the rest of them at one point or another.

" Nico, this wasn't your first life or death situation, was it?" Bruce asked, already knowing the answer. Nico's expression became guarded and Diana tensed next to him.

" No." He answered shortly. Bruce nodded. Nico lived on the street for a while, it wasn't really unreasonable to think that he had happened into one before.

"How close have you ever come to dying?" Jason asked. Nico chuckled, though no one besides Diana knew why. He was so tempted to say that he was an embodiment of death but he figured that they wouldn't appreciate his humor. Those sorts of jokes got one checked into asylums nowadays. The nearest one really didn't suit him anyway.

" Well, one of my friends almost slit my throat, and then I was almost burned to death." Nico said, not thinking about how bad that would sound out of context.

" Yes, do not forget the numerous times you played capture the flag," Diana added helpfully. Nico glared.

" Ok but technically, that was only a flesh wound. Not bone, no arteries." Nico said pointing at her for emphasis.

" What!" Dick cut in. His voice was laced in horror. Diana chuckled lightly, having now realized that they may have made things worse.

" Why would your friend want to slit your throat?" Tim asked incredulously. Nico winced in the memory,

"Yeah... I may have been asking for that." He muttered. 

" What?!" 

"Well, he didn't mean to, I came up behind him while he was practicing on one of the dummies at camp. The swords are dull, but with enough pressure..." Nico trailed off. They all got the idea. What they didn't know was that Nico was fabricating nearly the entire story.

"Ok, but how did you almost get burned to death?" Jason questioned, actually interested in the conversation. Diana did not know this story but she was sure that the story he was going to tell wasn't the truth. She knew that it wasn't when he gave a light chuckle.

"My dad tried to cook dinner. I'm not sure what went wrong but somehow our kitchen caught fire and I was trapped in my room."

"Why were you trapped in your room?" Damian asked.

" Uh... my dad had uh... locked me in," Nico said, suddenly finding the plain white tiles very interesting. None of them commented, not wanting to interrupt his story. 

"Ok, then what is this I hear about capture the flag?" Bruce asked. Watching Nico in interest.

Nico glared at Diana who just shrugged, "Well one of the other kids wasn't very sportsman-like and stabbed me with a pocket knife."

" What? Where?" Dick asked curiously. 

Nico lifted the hem of his shirt just enough to show them the scar on the very edge of his torso, missing everything even remotely vital. The scar was actually from an Ares kid that decided that Nico had cheated by using shadow travel to get across the creek.

" What happened to the boy?" Bruce asked. Nico hadn't planned for this part. He shrugged.

" I think they got arrested. I was sent home even though I really wasn't too hurt." Nico yawned loudly.

" I think he said it guys, time for bed," Diana said. All the boys groaned, even Bruce. Though they all did what the scary amazon said. That night had been very eventful.


	8. "You're Not My Uncle"

Nico had spent a week at the Wayne manor now. The prank score was up to:

Nico- 5  
Dick- 5  
Damian- 4  
Jason- 3  
Tim- 3

After the gala, Nico was too tired to use the centaur figurine and he had still yet to find the perfect moment. He just hoped that he would get the chance before the prank war ended and it was too late. Nico had grown rather close to his new family, they accepted him. This begged the question of whether or not he would ever be able to tell them his secret without violating his oath. He had seen what had happened to some of the people who had violated their oaths and it wasn't pretty. He had no desire to meet the same fate. Because of this, he had spoken once more with Diana and they discussed their world and if he should tell Bruce. 

Diana seemed adamant that he should. She assured him that Bruce would still accept him, but Nico wasn't so sure. Nico couldn't tell him outright, that was an invitation to be smote down where he stood. No, he would have to help Bruce guess it for himself. It was a good place to start. If he changed his mind about telling him, there would be no harm- no foul. 

Things were not completely great, however. Damian had just yelled at him to pick himself up and become someone. Granted it was said in a moment of passion and Nico wasn't sure if Damian meant it or not, but it still had to have been a thought that the boy had had before. Did they all think that? Sure, Damian didn't know that he had turned the tide of the war that could have ended the world. If he knew that, things would be different. Even as he tried to convince himself that Damian was wrong, he found himself believing it.

After the fight, Nico hadn't said a word, he just looked at the youngest Wayne boy with unfeeling eyes before walking out onto the street. He needed to blow off some steam. He was going monster hunting. No one had ever commended him for his brains, remember. He wished he could have told Damian off, telling him that he probably wasn't going to survive long enough for education to matter anyway so he should get off his back. 

Nico was so absorbed in his anger that he didn't realize that he was being followed until someone had grabbed him. The person was 3 times bigger than Nico. He didn't stand a chance. Nico tried to fight back but a damp cloth was held over his nose. Eventually, he had to breathe and he passed out quickly after that. He really shouldn't have gone out alone. What was he thinking? This was Gotham, not New York. This city came with its own breed of monsters.

Nico woke up on a thin mattress in a dark room. There was one dim light in the center of the room and it was slowly burning out. The walls were your cliche moldy concrete, with a large metal door on the other side. Nico couldn't comprehend anything else about the room because the drugs were still in his system and he couldn't think straight. As he became more aware, he could tell that there were voices in the distance. One of the voices was very distinctive, Nico had no trouble recognizing it. He had been captured by the Joker. Nico checked his pocket and was relieved to find that they hadn't taken his dagger-coin. It was the only weapon he had that would work on mortals. 

" Well let's see if our guest of honor is awake yet, shall we?" Joker cackled, his voice getting closer by the second. Nico briefly considered pretending to be asleep but he decided that his acting skills weren't that good. The door was thrown open wide. There stood Joker in all his psychopathic glory. 

" Ahhh! You're awake! Good, I want to talk to you a little before Batman comes and spoils our fun." Joker grabbed Nico roughly by his trapezius muscle and dragged him to his feet. That hurt, a lot. Nico knew that the trapezius muscle was the one that the EMPs were supposed to pinch in order to wake up an unconscious person. It woke them up because it hurt a lot. Nico gritted his teeth and refrained from attacking Joker. His men had guns and Nico wasn't bulletproof. It was times like these that he wished he had taken on the Curse of Achilles. Joker dragged him in that manner through his warehouse and into an open storage space. There were several armed guards stationed throughout the room. Fighting his way out was not an option.

Joker brought him in front of the group and threw him to the ground. Nico growled in annoyance and slowly picked himself up, wiping away all the dust from the nasty floors. It smelled like mildew and made Nico feel like sneezing. It was cold and Nico pulled his jacket around himself tighter to conserve his body heat. Did he not have the money to pay for AC? He had robbed enough banks for that, right?

" Ooooohhh! This one has spirit! I like him, I may just keep him for my entertainment." He laughed, watching Nico closely. 

" I am NOT entertainment. " Nico growled.

" HA HA HA HA HA!" Joker busted up startling him, "You say that as though you have a choice." He smiled in a sinister fashion. His lips were stretched to the limit, showing absolutely every tooth. It was sickening to watch.

" Oh, I do have a choice. You'll have to kill me before I will become your entertainment. " Nico challenged. He had no fear of death, why should he? He was aware that he probably wouldn't get out of this situation alive, he wasn't hoping for the big bad bat to come to rescue him.

" Ah, bold words... though they are all bold at the start. Yes, I like you, you're interesting." Joker took out a gun and pressed the barrel to Nico's head. Nico didn't flinch, not even when Joker pulled the trigger. The hammer clicked harmlessly down, Nico wasn't dead. He couldn't help but wonder what the Waynes would have thought when they found his body if he had actually just died. Would they blame themselves? Would Damian? Would they curse Batman for not getting here in time?

"MARVELOUS!" Joker exclaimed suddenly, "you must hate yourself a lot!" Nico frowned at the Joker. He didn't want to die, he just wasn't afraid to, there was a very large difference.

"Not particularly. I mean, not enough to want to die. I just don't fear the afterlife." Nico replied, folding his arms.

The Joker's normally cold gaze sparked in interest, "Really? And just why not, may I ask?"

Nico shrugged, "How about I just don't care?" Joker stared at him and Nico sighed, "How about I almost died before and it felt peaceful?" Nico said in the tone of a statement but the form of a question.

"Ah, so I'm not the first to get their hands on you? Pity." Nico growled at the man in front of him-- his face heated up at the thought of belonging to someone in that sense. The very idea of it made him sick.

"I am not your property!" Nico yelled. His voice became cold, his eyes blazed and the contrast between the two was enough to send most sane men running. Unfortunately, Joker wasn't sane. The Joker motioned for his men to leave the room. Nico absently noted that Harley was nowhere to be seen. 

"You really should watch your mouth you know... I could kill or torture you in so many different painful ways. You Wayne's are always so impolite." Joker was whining by the last part.

"Oh really? I'm not afraid of you." Nico said truthfully. Joker made him uneasy but scared wasn't the right word. Joker made him sick more than anything. Yes, sick. That is the right word. Everything about the Joker made Nico sick. The color of his hair, his unnaturally pale skin, the huge smile on his face, the scars that created the excessive curve of his lips, his empty eyes, and his hoarse voice. The way he walked, the way he took control of a room, and the way he formulated his words all made Nico's skin crawl in disgust. His laugh grated on the demigod's nerves until it was all he could do to keep from ripping out the Joker's vocal cords and silencing the clown permanently.

"What, none of that 'Batman will save me' nonsense?" Joker teased annoyingly.

" Please, no one cares enough about me to search for me. Especially not some dude dressed up as a bat." Nico snorted. He was sure that Batman had more important matters to attend to. Why would he be concerned about an orphan?

" I care about you! You're making my life interesting! It gets boring with all those people screaming in terror and begging for their lives. No one fights back! But you, you've got fire in your eyes." Nico glared, not liking how this was sounding. He almost sounded like a child admiring their new toy. He was not a toy. If he was, he would probably have been recalled due to a painful death hazard.

" What is your name? If you don't tell me I'll just figure it out some other way."

"Nico." Nico figured that Joker was right, after all his name was in the papers this week just for becoming a part of the Wayne bunch.

" NEEKS!" Joker cried. 

" Absolutely not," Nico said, but his words were wasted on the Joker. The playfulness had left his eyes and something scary had taken its place. Nico could only guess that he had said something wrong.

"Oh? I don't think you understand your situation here. You don't get to say no." He said simply. Joker grabbed a length of wire from a shelf. Nico began to back up, starting to get a grasp on just what kind of situation he had found himself in. The Joker was planning on keeping him. 

Normally he wouldn't be so worried because he could just Shadow travel out, but the Joker and his men were mortal and so were the Waynes. That would be way too hard to explain and would probably count as exposing himself and violating his oath. He couldn't take that risk. He had to get out of this himself, it seems. Nico backed up until he had hit a storage shelf. He had nowhere to go and the clown was still advancing. The Joker pounced on him, throwing him to the ground. The creep then tightly bound his hands behind his back. The Joker dragged him back to his cell-- the wire cutting into his wrists the whole way.

The Joker tossed him in and shut the door. Nico landed ungracefully on the mattress, nearly banging his head on the wall in the process. Nico was still in shock by the sudden mood swings of the troubled clown. He curled into a ball and waited for something, anything, to happen. He hoped that he wouldn't have to stay here long, he was cold and uncomfortable. Plus he had no interest in having another conversation with that maniac for a good, long while. 

Not even a minute later, an explosion sounded across the compound. Nico heard the cell door being unlocked and he mentally prepared himself for another meeting with the Joker. Though when the door opened, he saw a man in a black bodysuit with an oddly shaped blue emblem on his chest. The figure stood and entered the room. He immediately went to Nico's side and undid the bonds which had made his wrists raw already, just from the walk to the cell. The suited man, who had introduced himself as Nightwing, helped him up and led him through the building.

Nico was brought back through the room where he talked with the lunatic. The Joker was still there except this time he was fighting Batman. Nico was sort of surprised to see him. Did he take care of everyone or was fate just screwing with him again?

" Awwww! Leaving so soon? Well, be sure to come back and spend more time with your Uncle J!" He yelled as he was dangling in Batman's clutches.

Nico growled, "You're not my uncle." The vigilante, Nightwing, grabbed him gently by the back of the neck and pulled him out of the warehouse as the Joker just laughed maniacally. Nico didn't fight, not feeling threatened by the new masked figure. Batman finished the Joker off inside before coming to check on Nico.

" What were you doing out here?" Batman growled.

Nico sneered at him, "Oh, I was just out for a stroll. I thought it might be nice to get in a car with strangers who offered me candy." Nico's words absolutely dripped in sarcasm. His voice was cruel and demeaning, his eyes were once again ablaze. Batman just watched him silently. The son of Hades dropped his gaze to his wrists that were raw and bleeding. They looked worse than they were, the gashes weren't deep enough to be fatal and the bleeding had already slowed to a trickle. 

"The police will be here soon, I'm sure that Mr. Wayne is worried. I have to tend to a robbery, Nightwing, finish up here then meet me over there." Nightwing nodded silently. The big bad bat used a grappling hook to get to a nearby roof before disappearing.   
"He was asking if you were alright," Nightwing stated after they had waited a couple of seconds in awkward silence. 

" How about: 'are you injured'. Then he doesn't sound attached or chastising. " Nico had learned the word from Annabeth during one of her many attempts to 'home school' him. Nightwing simply nodded and handed him over to the police when they came. Nico had returned to being silent.

" Ah, you must be Nico. Mr. Wayne is worried." a man said as he came up to the pair, "Thank you, Nightwing, we can take it from here." Nightwing gave the man a curt nod before following Batman's trail.

" Hello, son. I'm Commissioner Gordon. Just call me Mr. Gordon, ok?" Nico nodded in an unconcerned manner.

"Can you take me home now? It's probably really late. " The commissioner nodded and led him to his police cruiser. The drive home was basically silent with officer Gordon asking a couple of questions every now and then. The trip to the manor took way too long for his liking, he just wanted to go to sleep. Nico was ashamed at how easily he had been taken. He had been careless, not paying attention to his surroundings, not grabbing his weapon, not defending himself. It was sloppy. He decided that he would train harder, Joker wouldn't be so lucky should he ever try that stunt again.

Bruce had a gym and Nico knew how to use it. He was also thinking about an idea that he had had for a while now. He wanted to learn something new in order to improve his fighting style. He wasn't sure what yet. As of right now, his style was completely traditional greek. It was comfortable, but it got to be predictable when you fought beings that have been using that style since they were born, thousands of years ago. He didn't want to change to a new style, he just wanted to update his own. He decided that he was going to search for a new style using any means necessary. Perhaps even tech, if he got that desperate. He was not going to die by a monster's hand and he wasn't going to be the Joker's entertainment. He wasn't going to be anyone's entertainment ever again. He swore it to himself.

"Here we are." Gordon coughed, breaking him out of his thoughts. Nico exited the vehicle and started to walk up the drive. He could sense that Gordon stayed by his cruiser, standing up against it. Nico walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. Almost immediately, it was opened by Alfred who looked unsurprised to see him.

"Master Nico! I am very glad that you do not seem to be harmed. Go into the living room, the others are congregated there. I will bring a first aid kit for your wrists." Alfred said, waving warmly at the commissioner, who waved back then got into his car and drove away. Nico did as he was told, though reluctantly. He heard their voices as he reached the living room. He didn't pay much attention to their words as he approached. He walked silently into the room to see Damian sitting on the cushioned windowsill, staring out at the garden. The window wasn't facing the driveway so he wouldn't have seen the son of Hades enter.

Dick was standing by him glaring down on his brother. Jason was also glaring at Damian from his place on the sofa. Bruce had his face in his hands as though he had just facepalmed. Tim was sitting next to Jason staring at the floor. They had obviously been fighting but Nico couldn't bring himself to care. 

"Wow. If this is how you act right now, I'd hate to see you at my funeral." Nico said flatly. He had meant it as a joke but it sounded bitter, even to him. All their eyes shot towards him. He was surprised by the looks of relief on their faces. He hadn't thought that they would be that concerned about him. Alfred showed up with a first aid kit and forced him to sit on the couch while he wrapped his wrists. He watched the older man's work intently he didn't even notice when the butler applied the disinfectant, his mind too far detached from his body. 

"Are you ok, Nico?" Bruce asked after a few moments of silence. He didn't get a reply so he asked again. 

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. I'll be fine. It's not fatal." The fifteen-year-old turned his attention back to the bandages. The bat family shared looks between them. Was he just in shock or was he really just this unfazed? 

"That's good. What did the Joker want with you?" Bruce pressed on gently. He figured the boy was just in shock and wasn't really processing everything yet. Nico's expression darkened and he shuddered involuntarily. 

"Are you hurt anywhere else, Master Nico?" Nico shook his head. 

"You sure you're alright Nico?" Bruce asked laying his hand on his shoulder before almost instantly retracting it. This made Nico frown. Bruce didn't seem to have a problem with touching his shoulder before, why did he this time? Yeah, Nico's shoulders were bruised by the Joker but Bruce wouldn't know that. The only ones that could possibly know that was the Joker himself, maybe Batman, and perhaps Nightwing. Unless Bruce was Batman, he shouldn't know. (Cause he didn't have the right build to be Nightwing and he sure as heck isn't the Joker.

"Yeah... I'm fine. I'm gonna go to bed, night everyone." Nico said hesitantly, a curious frown still on his face. Everyone bade him good night and headed off to bed. Nico entered his room, still confused. Bruce can't be Batman, can he? No, Batman wouldn't be a playboy. Or would he? It would be a pretty good cover. Plus he owns Wayne Enterprises, he has the means to get all the cool gadgets. Nico thought about it late into the night, finally deciding to investigate his idea. For that, he was going to have to run into the big bad bat again. This time on purpose. He had decided that it was better to follow up this lead and to be wrong than for it to be right and him being used as bait or leverage later on.

Later that night, Nico was woken up by people talking softly in the hallway. Nico, seeing the perfect opportunity to use his centaur, hurried to retrieve it. He used his powers to see that his brothers were at the end of the hall in a huddle, roughly 8 ft down the hall. He set the centaur down on the floor and set it to 'follow' mode. He opened his door, leaving it open for the centaur to follow. He could just barely hear it shuffling. He walked down the hall, not looking up as though he didn't expect to see anyone.

"Nico?" Dick asked in confusion. Nico's eyes snapped up and he made sure to put a guilty face on. He was in luck, they were all still in position.

"Oh, hey. I was having trouble sleeping so I was just going to go see if I could find a book that I could read." Nico lied kicking the hardwood floor lightly as though he were nervous.

"You can't read." Damian jabbed. Nico tensed. He hadn't told him that. It was all he could do to keep from lunging at the arrogant boy.

"What? Damian! Of course, he can read!" Timothy countered. His gaze turned towards Nico, "can't you?"

Nico glared at Damian's rage making his skin crawl, "No I can't read! Who even told you that?" Nico felt betrayed. Bruce had no reason to tell Damian that he couldn't read. It had to be Bruce because he was the only one he had told. Nico hit the button on the remote that would start the countdown for 3 seconds. Damian opened his mouth and started to speak. Nico hit the deck. Everyone stared at him in confusion until the centaur started screaming: " Die Vlacas! In the name of Seymour!" And started shooting his special darts. Nico had met Seymour before and was aware of his fondness for sausage.

After that, chaos ensued. To his endless amusement, the very first dart hit Damian right in the mouth. His mouth filled with pink glitter. Damian doubled over, cursing and spitting pink glitter out of his mouth immediately. The next dart hit Jason on the side of the head, as the boy had turned to stare at his hacking brother. White glitter-covered his head in a thin layer. Tim was nailed in the chest by both yellow and red-colored darts. Not even Dick remained safe, his black shirt was nailed by a blue dart and it spread out on his chest.

The darts kept firing for a couple more seconds, spattering his brothers with green, orange, and purple glitter. Then the centaur shut itself off saying: "Mission Complete". Nico picked himself up off the floor, grabbed the automaton, and launched himself into his room, bolting the door and shoving a chair under the handle. He could hear his brothers yelling but he just sank back in his bed. Then came the sounds of arguing and then silence. They must have all gone to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a fun day. 

The anger at Bruce, and annoyance at Damian still fresh in his mind.


	9. A Day of Discovery

Needless to say, the brothers had been shocked to find out that Nico couldn't read, as they had all known how to read for most of their lives. Well, Dick couldn't read English for a while but that was different. What was the bigger surprise, the centaur death machine or learning that Nico was illiterate-- it was hard to say. The glitter assault left them all standing in shock for several seconds, listening to Damian spit and curse.

"That stupid, illiterate, piece of... " Damian said when he had gotten a majority of the glitter out of his mouth. Before he could finish his undoubtedly vulgar sentence, however, Jason had pinned him to the wall, getting right in his face.

"You deserved everything you got, demon spawn. He's done nothing to you but you've decided you didn't like him since week 2? Are you scared of him? Being replaced? Is that what this is?" Before Damian could answer, Jason dropped him in the hallway and stalked away. They all knew that he was going on patrol to blow off steam.

++Damian++

Damian picked himself and glared in the direction that Todd had left. He avoided looking at his brothers, pushing past them and slipping silently into his room. He knew Jason was right. They all did. Insecurity, that’s what this was. He was the newest addition, he would be the first to be replaced. His brothers didn't like him that much anyway. The only one that he really got along with was Dick, who hadn't said a word when Jason was chewing him out. Dick had actually yelled at him earlier that day for being too harsh on Nico.

Looking back on it, perhaps he had been too harsh. He certainly hadn't realized how much it would hurt Nico-- it actually never crossed his mind that it might be offensive. Sure, he had been jealous of all the attention Nico was getting, maybe that had influenced his actions. Then he wondered why he cared. The old Damian wouldn’t have cared about whether or not he hurt someone’s feelings. Nico couldn’t read, that was the cold hard truth. Why should he feel guilty for telling the truth? Those thoughts made this current Damian uncomfortable. That was his mother's logic seeping though. 

Damian scowled at himself as he got ready for bed, carefully slipping off the glittery garments, he should be able to properly control his emotions. He was an assassin after all. His mind kept drifting to the disappointed face of his mother when he did something she was displeased with. He imagined that she wouldn't be too proud of him right now either. She’d be disappointed for not defending himself to Jason-- not for saying what he did. She would have agreed with his statement. Talia didn't stand for weakness or disability and would not show Nico any mercy. He didn't want to be like that. Damian wasn’t proud of his heritage like he had been once. He was strong, yes, but he was also cold. 

When he woke the next morning, he still felt like a jerk. Calling him out on his inability to read had been a low blow. He could tell that it really bothered Nico too, the boy had every right to be angry with him. Jason had been right, he had totally deserved the glitter in the mouth. Damian figured that maybe Nico and the others would forgive him if he played nice. If he apologized and tried to make it up to him. He didn't want to be mean-- to cause a rift between himself and yet another sibling. He had to fix this.

The reformed assassin showered, taking a little longer than usual as he thought about how to get back in his sibling's good graces. He stood there in the warm water just thinking. The water only served to make him sleepy again so he turned down the temperature. Maybe he could help him to read and understand other intellectual topics. Nico was cunning and sly, he was street smart, but he lacked a significant amount of book knowledge. If he ever got into the vigilante gig, he would be far behind. 

He dressed in jeans, a dark-long sleeved shirt, and his red hood-less jacket. He headed down the stairs, not realizing that it was only 6 AM. He trudged into the dining room only to find it empty. Deciding that it was pointless to just wait there for an hour, he headed into the room where he pictured him teaching Nico, the library. He might try to set it up for a session or get some ideas on a curriculum. When he got there, he was surprised to see Nico already there. He was fiddling with the old projector that had been out of commission for a while now. He was about to tell him that it didn't work when Nico turned the machine on. To Damian's surprise, the film actually appeared on the wall opposite the machine.

Nico messed with a couple of other buttons and the film started to play. It was some man in a lab coat mixing chemicals in beakers, why the Wayne manor had anything of the kind baffled Damian. Nico watched the film for a while, looking satisfied. He then shut the film off, putting it away neatly in a protective case.

It was at this point that Damian found his voice, "How did you get that to run?"

Nico's eyes shot towards him, looking cornered. His body tensed as though he had been caught red-handed. He relaxed only slightly when he saw that it was Damian. Though his eyes remained guarded, his body relaxed and he continued to tidy up. Damian couldn't blame the boy for being cautious around him. He had never given Nico a reason to trust him. It hurt, but it was what he deserved.

"I straightened a couple of gears and cleaned it up a bit. It really is in pretty good shape considering its age..." Nico trailed off. Damian wondered what he was thinking about but decided not to ask. Nico would share if he wanted to.

"Sure... look, Nico. I'm sorry. To make up for my bigoted attitude, I would like to offer to teach you in the subjects that I can." Damian proposed. Nico looked at him with interest. He seemed to be judging if he was making fun of him. Deciding that he wasn't, Nico nodded gratefully. 

"It isn't that I don't know how to read... I'm dyslexic. I literally can't read." Damian winced. When he had overheard Bruce speaking to Alfred about possible accommodations, he never considered that Nico had such a disorder.

"Ok, I understand. Do you wish to start now?" Damian asked, gesturing towards the sofa and the coffee table. Nico looked at him in both surprise and amusement. 

"Might as well," Nico replied. That was how the two boys got pulled into studying some of the classics. Damian had been brought up on the classics by his mother since he was little. It was one of the things he knew inside and out. He decided to start with 20,0000 Leagues Under the Sea. It was a tale full of adventures and futuristic themes, many of which mankind has achieved since the publication of the novel. [ Damian has a skewed idea of fun, remember.]

Since Nico couldn't read, Damian elected to read it aloud to him. Both boys caught themselves being dragged into the story and they read much further than they had first intended. Nico loved the thought of an adventure though he wasn't too keen about it being under the water, someplace he could never go. Damian got animated as he read the story aloud, he made his voice change as he read, adding to the overall effect of the scenes. Nico was hooked on every word, he had never read/listened to a book before, he actually really enjoyed it. Having someone read it for him made it seem so much more exciting. Not that he really had anything to compare it to except for Annabeth occasionally reading aloud an excerpt from an architecture book.

The boys only realized that time was passing when they heard footsteps coming from the floors above them. At that point, Damian put the book down and told Nico that they could continue later. Nico agreed with an expression that Damian would almost describe as happy. Maybe content? On the way to breakfast, the two boys talked about the story until they reached the dining room. Everyone else seemed surprised to see the two talking after what was said the night before. Maybe Jason had finally gotten through to Damian. The two boys even sat next to each other at the table. No one dared mention it, thinking that it might break the peace.

++Nico++

Nico ate a fairly decent breakfast that morning. He never ate very much-- not usually being very hungry. He knew that he would need his energy for the exercises he was planning on doing. After he had eaten, he excused himself and headed up to the gym. He had some training to get started. He began with the stretches that he had been taught at camp. After that, he went to the pull-up bar and just started working out. He lost count of how many he did, he just went until he got tired and bored. After that, he went to sit-ups so that he could give his arms a break. He ended up doing about 80 of those, figuring that he would start with that and work his way up. Nico felt weak because other demigods had passed him on the number of reps but he was doing impressively for mortal standards. Well-- considering his condition. 

Nico went on for maybe another hour doing random exercises that he had been taught at camp and such. He chose several that he would get rid of and planned a routine in his mind. At the end of his workout, he did some cool-down stretches. He felt good, not any stronger, though he understood that it would take time. As he was leaving, Richard came in and gave him an odd look. Nico was grateful, though, when he didn't comment. Nico crept through the manor, trying not to run into anyone. He made it to his room without someone talking to him. When he got there, he headed towards the trunk at the end of his bed. He was itching to get his sword out, even if it was just to polish it.

It had been a while since he had used it, which was surprising. He had only had one monster encounter since he had moved to Gotham. Nico figured that this city must be bad enough to ward off monsters as well as mortals. 

"You're right." His father's voice boomed in his mind. Nico fell off his bed in surprise, landing on his funny bone, it was nowhere near funny. Nico growled and he sat back upon his bed.

"About what?"

"Gotham has a protective field around it from monsters. They can spawn within its borders but they can not enter on their own. Dionysus declared that he could always sense crazy just rolling off that city in waves. He set a shield around the city so that Gotham won't be further corrupted by monsters. Star city, Bludhaven... all of them with vigilantes are protected too. No need in asking the World's Greatest Detective to hunt down the gods." Hades elaborated. 

"That's... convenient. How was I pulled here?"

"The city doesn't exclude demigods, nor nature spirits. Though most stay away of their own accord. Though, as to why you landed here... call it failure or call it fate-- whichever suits your fancy." Nico couldn't tell if he was joking but he didn't think so.

"Can I let them know who I am, father?" He wanted permission, but he would take acceptance.

"I don't approve, but I can't stop you. I believe they will discover you either way. If you plan to go through with it... be smart about it."

"Father?" Nico asked, not understanding quite what his father was telling him.

"Make them swear on the Styx. Much more binding of an oath. They cannot discuss it with anyone that doesn't know already until or unless it becomes common knowledge. Understood?" Nico sighed, his father still thought he was a screw-up. He gritted his teeth in annoyance as he answered. 

"Yes, father." He felt his father's presence leave and he slumped against the headboard. Feeling angry from his father's lack of faith, Nico grabbed his jacket and headed out into the backyard, not really thinking about how strange it was that he didn't come across anyone else. Not even Alfred. He walked into the grove of weeping willows that were growing at the edge of the Wayne Estate, his favorite place. He stopped beneath one of the trees, looking up at the closest branch. It was about 3 feet higher than he was. With his heightened demigod skills, he was able to jump and grab the branch and pull himself up.

Nico sat on a thicker branch a little higher up, with his back against the trunk. He held his skull ring in his hands, beholding the simple human skull design. The eyes were emeralds and the rest was pure stygian iron. If he focused, he could feel how cold and parasitic the ring was. There was a reason that only children of the Underworld could touch the blade. Stygian iron tended to suck the life essence out of anything it had prolonged exposure to. Anything but a Hades child. Probably because they seemed dead to most mortal instruments anyways. The ring probably couldn't tell the difference between him and a corpse. He bet that if he ever passed out, he would be like the drunken fools in mortal folklore that were often buried alive.

The sky, which had been cloudy since he had first got there, suddenly started pouring down rain, with no signs of letting up. Nico, hating water, immediately shadow traveled to his room. He didn't think that it might seem odd that he never went back through the house, but luckily none of the bats were watching the monitors, they were attending to a hostage situation downtown. 

Nico laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He got bored very quickly but there was nothing he could do. He couldn't watch tv, that transmitted a signal to a satellite. So did phones or computers, he couldn't read, and he couldn't write. He laid there for what felt like an hour but was really only 20 minutes. With so many enjoyable things prohibited to him by nature, it was hard to find things to do outside of camp. Normally, Nico would go raise some dead people and train but that wasn't really an option. Plus, he had already worked out that morning and didn't want to overdo it. Nico just wanted to be alone, so he could recover from his dad's insults and regain his composure.

Nico looked around his room, he had yet to do anything to customize it but he didn't have the materials for that. He hadn't been there long enough to make a mess so he didn't have to clean. The only thing in his line of sight that wasn't reading material was a plain black sketchbook. So, naturally, he decided to try his hand at drawing. He laid on his stomach on his bed, trying to think of ideas on what he could draw. He eventually made up his mind that he was going to draw Bianca as he last saw her: strong, confident, and alive.

[I am no artist. Please do not judge my lack of art knowledge.]

He started with her torso, slowly working his way up to her arms. Before he could start on her face, however, he moved back down to her legs. He positioned her in a stance that he imagined the other hunters would use. Next, he used colors he found on his desk to finish up the details of her clothes. Finally, he started on the face. This part took him a long time to complete. He wanted to get it exactly right.

As he worked, he never thought about how he had never drawn anything before. He never wondered why he was able to draw so well without practice. He just got absorbed in the thoughts of his sister, and the need to create her likeness. Only when he was finished did he realize how crazy it was for him to do that. It was true that he used to sketch back at the hotel, but he must've forgotten that he could when they dipped him in the lethe. He felt bile rise up in his throat as he thought about Alecto tossing him into that damnable river. He lost everything except the memory of his sister. 

What else could he do that he couldn't remember? Is that how he could do the splits? That certainly hadn't been in the typical camp curriculum. What about his affinity for memorization? That definitely wasn't a trait he shared with most demigods. What else didn't he know? 

[TW: Panic Attack]

Without realizing it, Nico's heart was beating faster and his breaths were becoming more and more shallow. Tears leaked out of his eyes, he was having a panic attack. His thoughts drifted on to the endless possibilities of his former life. Were there close relatives or friends that he had forgotten? Had he actually been good at a subject in school? Had he been interested in a sport or some other hobby? 

Nico pushed his chair back away from his desk, heading almost automatically towards the light grey velvet couch that sat along the far wall, next to the window. He collapsed onto it, now consciously trying to take deeper breaths. He clenched and unclenched his hands together, wringing them as he did so. His hands finally settled on his skull ring and he found himself twisting it. Normally, that would turn it into his sword, but he willed it not to, having learned the trick from Minos. He found the action to be therapeutic, its familiarity calming him immensely. 

After an unknown amount of time, his heart slowed down to its normal rate and he could breathe normally again. He sat in his position, curled up on the couch, for some time. He simply did not have the will to attempt to move. He didn't know for how long he stayed in that pose, his tears had long since dried on his face. His only hint that time was passing was the slight darkening of the clouds that he could see through his window. Eventually, he stood up, not out of regained confidence, but because of necessity. He had to use the restroom.

Once he had done his business, he made his way back over to his desk, where he had laid the drawing. He looked at his handiwork, in awe of his hidden talent. He searched his room for a suitable place to hang it. He must have searched for half an hour before he realized that there was a corkboard hanging right in front of his desk. Hiding in plain sight. Criticizing himself, he carefully tore the picture out along the perforated line. He found a box of tacks in his drawer and stood on his desk in order to hang it up. It was nice to keep her likeness around-- like she was still here protecting him somehow.


	10. I wish I Knew

Nico carefully climbed down off of his desk and sat gently in his chair. He sat there, staring at the new blank page sitting there before him. He wanted to draw something else. He wanted to see if his new talent was a fluke of the mist or something. He still had motivation, but he no longer had any inspiration. He sat there for several minutes just trying to come up with things that he could draw but nothing sounded all that appealing to him at the moment. 

Then another idea for a picture came to his mind. It was going to be of Percy and Annabeth. He wanted to portray them as the happy, care-free people that he had always known them to be. He decided on drawing them at the very moment that the war ended. Both in battle armor, their helmets long since discarded, holding each other like nothing else mattered. Nico started with the form of Annabeth, her hands in Percy's hair. The curves, shading, and depth came naturally to him. He automatically knew what to do to get the picture how he wanted. When he was satisfied with her figure, he moved on to draw Percy. 

The picture took him several hours to complete, which he did all in one sitting. He didn't stop working until it was complete and even then he couldn't stop moving. After he had tacked up the piece he cleaned up all his art supplies, made his bed, and put away the rest of the clothes that Chiron had sent him from Camp. There wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. Even after had finished all the little tasks he could think of, he could still feel himself tingling with nervous energy but he wasn't sure why. Sometimes he would just get these sudden waves of productivity where he felt like he could take on the world, but usually, they dissipated fairly quickly. This time the feeling wasn't going away. 

Nico paced for a few minutes, trying to expel some of the energy. Every time he paused for more than a few moments he could feel the pressure start to build up in his muscles and his chest so he had to move again. Why couldn't he calm down? What was happening to him? After a while of just pacing and looking for little tasks to do like picking up paper scraps or organizing his dressers, Nico could feel himself coming back down off of the wave of anxiety. He felt drained. How could he go from having so much energy to being so empty? 

Nico glanced at his drawings numbly. It was like he was inside a fishbowl. Everything was softer and slightly distorted. The thoughts were there, they just weren't as loud as they usually were and they were a lot slower than normal. Was this what it was like to think like a normal person? His eyes started to process his art. Drawing reminded him of Rachel, and how Percy told him that she drew Luke from her dreams. Then Nico got an idea, what if he could draw out the people he sees in his demigod dreams? He can make sure that he can recognize them. He told himself that he would do that the next time that he saw someone new in his dreams. After this fog went away.

Nico plopped back down in his chair. He didn't know just how long he sat there in thought, but it must've been a long time because the next thing he knew Dick was coming in to get him for dinner.

++Richard++

He was out on patrol with his brothers and Bruce basically all day. Dick kind of felt bad leaving Nico at the manor on his own, but Alfred was supposed to keep him occupied if need be. There was also the fact that the Joker and Harley had set up several different traps and bombs under the banks around the city. Bombs that needed to be located and disabled before they went off and took a fair portion of the city with them. That didn't really give him much choice-- he had responsibilities. 

They got back about an hour before dinner. Each boy changed and showered before heading upstairs. They all parted ways, electing to go do their own things. Dick decided to go check on Nico. According to Alfred, he had not seen the boy all day. That meant that he had not eaten lunch that day and it was very nearly time for dinner. That was slightly concerning, as it had seemed that Nico hadn't even sought out food. Was that why he was so small? Did he just not eat? He must be hungry by now.

Dick walked down the hall toward the boy's room, scanning the passage for traps. That boy was one of the best pranksters he knew (granted he had never met these fabled Stoll brothers). Nico had proven his skills in trickery and trap-making over and over again. He had also applied himself as a decent actor while he pulled off these pranks. He would make an interesting Robin-- though perhaps an unconventional one. 

Dick approached his door, carefully opening it to gaze in. Nico was sitting at his desk almost glaring at the blank paper in front of him. Dick stepped in cautiously, still wary of a prank. He was only 2 pranks away from getting ahead of Nico, he would not jeopardize that chance. The newest addition made no sign that he saw or heard him enter. Dick coughed lightly and Nico's eyes snapped towards him. The younger boy blinked a couple of times in surprise before seeming to fully grasp what was going on. Was he dissociating?

"Oh hey." He finally managed.

"It's just about time for dinner. Alfred says that you didn't eat lunch? Are you ok?" Nico's eyes widened dramatically as he turned to look at the clock in the corner. When he saw the time, he cursed in Italian. He basically called himself a moron.

"Yeah, everything is good. I just didn't realize what time it was. Where were you all today anyway? The manor is never this quiet with all of us under the same roof." Dick wondered just how long Nico had been glaring at the paper. From his angle, by the door, he couldn't see the pictures pinned above his desk. As Dick moved into the room to stall for a little bit while he thought of a plausible excuse. As he did he caught right of the picture Nico did of Bianca. The lies died in his mouth and all of a sudden he was speechless. Nico frowned in confusion at the older boy before following his line of sight and blushing. He had never had anyone look at his art that he could remember and did not know if anyone would like it or not. It didn't help that Dick didn't say a word as he looked over it. Nico felt his heart sink. He hated it, he just knew it. He let his gaze drop to the floor as he waited for the criticism to come.

"Nico! How long have you been drawing?" He asked in surprise. That reaction caught Nico off guard. Did he actually like them or were they just that bad?

"Ummm about five hours." He said timidly, his gaze traveling over Richard trying to gauge his reaction.

"No... I meant total. What age were you?" Dick reaffirmed.

"So did I. I just started a little over five hours ago... I know they aren't very good but I only just started so I guess that that can be expected..." Nico rambled trying to say all of the negative things himself before Dick said them for him.

"What? There is no way that you just started, Nico! These are really good!" Dick replied incredulously. Nico winced, in truth, he might not have just started. Without his memories, he would never really know for sure. The compliment built up his self-esteem, if only a little bit. Dick sat down in the chair that Nico had vacated. He sat hunched over, his elbows rested on his knees. He gave Nico a critical once-over. 

"There is no way that you just started drawing. that looks like you have been drawing for years. What are you hiding?" Dick decided to try a new approach. Come right out and say it. Nico glared at him and then at his pictures. A wave of anger unlike any that he had ever felt before bubbled up inside him. He wasn't really all that angry at his brother's doubt, it just acted as the catalyst to bring all the rest of his anger to the surface. He was angry at his own inability to answer a simple question. He was mad at his father for stealing his memories. He was mad at the fates for his crappy life. Most of all, he was mad that his father only seemed to see him as an errand boy or a baby (though that was more of a constant anger in the back of his mind).

"I'm not lying. I don't know how I know how to do that, I just do!" He crossed his arms angrily.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Dick's voice had gone from accusatory to confused. This didn't seem like something that people normally forget. Did Nico have amnesia? That would also explain why he didn't know his birthday. Dick made a mental note to bring this up to Bruce later so they could figure out a way to help him. 

Nico growled and turned angrily away from Dick. He stormed across his room and out onto his balcony. He could tell that Dick had not followed him but he could also feel his eyes burning into his back. He had to blow off steam but he didn't want to take it out on Dick, it really wasn't his fault. Deciding that he needed space and that using the stairs was just too bothersome, he got up on the railing, only being on the second story in the first place, and jumped. He could hear Richard give a yelp of surprise and lunge towards him, really being too far away to really be of much help. 

As he fell, it almost felt peaceful. As he approached the ground he tucked his legs to his chest and came out of the fall in a perfect roll with enough momentum to keep running after he got up. He had learned the trick from his experiences with the lava wall at Camp Halfblood. After he came out of the roll, ran around the manor just as fast as he could and he was down the block before the manor door even opened. He ducked into an alley and shadow traveled a couple of blocks down before he started walking.

He just wanted to take a walk and he was sure that the others would not have allowed him to after what happened last time. He knew that he could protect himself but of course, the rest of the family didn't know that. He couldn't expose himself to the mortals. Though this time he had come up with a way to avoid that. he would just use his silver dagger. It was unconventional but it wouldn't raise too many questions if he got caught with it. Having learned his lesson well from last time, stuck to the shadows more and paid more attention to his surroundings. 

Night was falling, so the shadows were getting stronger and darker. It was almost perfect for shadow travel. He looked at the sunset, if he left now, he could make it to camp before the campfire. He debated it for a little while but ultimately decided to stay in Gotham. As he walked, he ran into someone that he hadn't thought he would again for a long time. Pamela Isley. She looked different than she had before. Her pale skin now was tinted green. Her ruby red lips now looked to be green as well. She had also traded in her lab coat for a bathing suit made out of leaves. Nico briefly wondered how that worked before deciding that it wasn't important.

She knelt in front of one of the mansion's front yards. She seemed to be cooing to the wilting rose bush, calling it things like: 'baby's and 'sweets'. Something about her aura was also strange. As he soul searched her, he realized that her soul had been infused with half that of a dryad's spirit. (sue me, I changed it). The dryad seemed to have gone mad when their souls had fused, thus turning Pam into a hardcore environmentalist. She was also somewhat immortal in this state. Dryad never truly died, they were reincarnated. Human souls aren't able to be reincarnated, thus the dryad part of her souls would fight to live, it would probably end up sustaining the human part of her soul for as long as it could. Without thinking, Nico approached her. She was too caught up with the plant to notice him until he spoke to her. 

"Hello Pamela, long time no see." Pamela turned her unnatural eyes towards him with a look of confusion laced with distant recollection. It was now if he briefly wondered if he had made a poor choice.

"You are familiar. State your name, stranger." She was much more formal than he remembered to. Must've been a fairly old dryad. Pamela wouldn't have as much time as he had first thought.

"It's me, Nico di Angelo." Recognition struck Pam hard and she fell back from her crouched position, or the bush might have told her something (It was impossible to tell). She sprawled out on the sidewalk for a couple of seconds before picking herself back up.

"My word! I do remember you! You're the boy that stopped by my exhibit with that nice young boy with the reed pipes. You didn't have a green bone in your body, much less a thumb." Pam recalled almost fondly.

"Yes, that was me. I still really don't. I just don't have much skill with plants," Nico admitted, shifting almost uncomfortably in his place. Last time she saw them she had given them both a potted Easter Lily. Grover's had flourished. Nico's had barely lasted a week.

"Yes, well the entire world can't have a green thumb, unfortunately." Pamela looked sorrowfully at the dying roses.

"Look, Pamela..." Nico started.

"It's Ivy now, Poison Ivy." She interrupted heatedly. Nico simply raised one of his eyebrows at her. She averted her gaze, though more in a way that said that she wasn't mad than she was apologizing.

"Really? When did this happen?"

"I would really rather not get into all the details. I really just want to save this poor guy. Someone put roundup on it. The nerve of them! Trying to kill something so pure!" Ivy drifted off, kneeling back down to be level with the bush she stroked a couple of its leaves longingly.

"I can't help, I'm sorry. I would probably only make things worse. I hope you can save it, Ivy. Have a good night." Nico said in parting. He moved around the crazed woman that he used to know and headed further into downtown Gotham. As he kept going he felt an irrational urge to punch something. So naturally, when his least favorite clown popped up right in his face, Nico didn't hesitate to clock him in the nose. It was more of a reaction than anything else. Joker obviously hadn't expected that response because he fell right on his butt and stayed there looking at Nico.

He sat, looking up at the boy. Blood flowed freely from his left nostril but he did nothing to stunt the flow. Joker started cackling all at once, his body wracked with laughter. He sprawled out on the pavement laughing, while Nico stood silently, watching the scene unfold. Nico has his fists clenched and his feet spread in a defensive stance. He must admit that the clown had given him quite the shock. He hadn't meant to punch him, not that he regretted it. He had just been mad that a respectable person such as Pamela Isley could have gone so insane. Gotham truly was a twisted place.

The Joker slowly composed himself, still sitting where he fell. His smile had not dimmed in the slightest, in fact, Nico notices, it seemed to have grown. The clown stood and brought himself to his full height, standing about a good 4 to 6 inches taller than Nico, who had only recently hit his growth spurt. Nico stood at a solid 5'6 and was still growing. The Joker must have been 6' at least. Everything in his gut was telling him to run, but he didn't. Instead, he stood there watching the clown's blood drip onto his lime green shirt.

"You've got quite the punch there kid. But why did you hit me? I was just walking along, minding my own business..." Joker was cut off by an irritated Ghost King.

"We both know that you never mind your own business, so cut the crap, would you? I'm not in the mood." He spat, meeting the Joker's gaze, undaunted.

"Ooh! Feisty tonight are we? Did someone leave the toy out of your happy meal?" Joker called at his own joke while Nico glared at him.

"No, I'm not quite that ticked off... yet," Nico replied snarling. Joker smiled genuinely, having taken his comment as sarcasm.

"You do have a sense of humor!"

"No, I just really hate careless McDonald's workers." Nico sighed and rubbed his hand down his face. He was not having this conversation with a die-hard circus performer.

The Joker laughed hysterically again, much to Nico's annoyance, "So you do like happy meals!? Aren't you just full of surprises!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Can't afford much else and I might as well have something to entertain me." Nico grumbled. That wasn't entirely a lie either. He didn't have too much mortal cash on hand at any one time, you tended not to get robbed that way. He couldn't really afford much other than fast food and he preferred McDonald's. 

"Ahhh I see! So tell me, where is your real family? If we really are 'cutting the crap' as you put it, we both know that Brucie isn't your real dad." Joker grinned and sat on a nearby crate. Nico's eyes flashed in anger. It wasn't anyone's (especially not this freak's) business where his parents were. He also had trouble believing that he was talking about his family to a high-profile criminal.

"They're dead." He dead-panned. Nico made a move to leave but Joker grabbed him by his upper arm and pulled him back. When their eyes met, Nico could tell that he was still talking to a calmer version of the Joker. One that was almost civilized.

"Oh, don't leave now. We are just getting to know each other!" He whined like a little child.

"I do not wish to get to know you," Nico replied matter-of-factly. The calmness in the clown's eyes disappeared and Nico knew that he was now talking to the dangerous version.

"Well, that's not very nice! I think I need to teach you about respect." Before Nico knew what was happening, Joker had pulled a crowbar out, seemingly from thin air. He still had a tight grip on Nico's arms and he saw no way to force his way free. He would have to rely on the single dagger he had concealed in his jacket pocket. As Joker shifted his grip to his collar, Nico reached into his jacket pocket and palmed the dagger. When Joker swung down towards his head with the crowbar, he brought the now full-sized dagger up to meet it.

Sparks flew and the shock was enough to force the Joker to lose his grip on his collar. Nico pulled back several feet, leaving plenty of space between them. He didn't have time to turn and run before the clown was swinging at him again. This time, he didn't wait for the blow to connect. He lunged forward and slashed Joker across the chest. The gash was small, barely even a scratch, but it was enough for the Joker to stumble back and into the crates, he had perched on before. Not waiting for him to stand, Nico, got up and sprinted back towards the manor. He didn't know if the Wayne's were searching for him still or not but it seemed to be his best bet to get back there. 

He couldn't use his powers, the Joker is a mortal. Also, he didn't want to waste his energy in case he were to fail and travel to China. He could hear the mad clown keeping pace with him just a little ways back. He pushed himself to run faster until he was going at his top speed. As he ran, he saw Ivy still knelt by the dying plant. If she was still his friend, she might help him. If not, she could make his situation worse. He decided as the Joker cackled maniacally behind him, that he would have to risk it. He couldn't keep this pace up all the way to the manor and he didn't know if the clown could either.

When he got within earshot he called out to her breathlessly, "Pamela! Pam! Ivy! Help! He's tryna kill me!" He cried, still running. Pamela looked up from her baby with a look of confusion plastered on her face. Her intelligent eyes took in his situation in a matter of moments and in an instant she waved her hand towards the two. Vines wrapped roughly around his body and he had a sinking feeling that he had chosen wrong.

He just hoped she would make his death quick.


	11. Momma Ivy?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mentions of suicide, mentions of abuse, vivid panic attack description, disordered thoughts

Nico had a sinking feeling that he had made the wrong choice by calling out to the crazed woman that he used to know. He felt the vines wrap around him, forming a harness that supported him as he was lifted into the air. He looked down to see what Ivy was going to do with him now. He should have known not to let his guard down. That was the first rule back at Camp Halfblood next to technology is bad.

His fears weren't ausaged as he looked back down towards the ground. From his awkward position, he could barely see the two villains below him. It seemed like Pam chewing the Joker out-- though he couldn't be entirely sure. The man in question had been wrapped tightly in a certain dying rose bush and was currently lying on his face in front of an angry Pamela. Joker didn't seem concerned about his current situation-- if anything, he seemed to be amused. He was calmly staring up at Ivy from where he lay, saying that he was only trying to have some fun.

"I don't care. You are not to touch that boy, you hear! He is mine! You touch him and I will feed you to my babies!" Nico wasn't sure where this possesiveness had come from since she had been mostly indiferent to his presence before. Maybe it was because she knew him before her transformation? Whatever the case she seemed to have accepted his presence for some reason or another. At least, he hoped that she had accepted him and not just decided he would be her entertainment now. 

After a while of talking, Joker was finally released and disappeared into the night. Once, he was out of sight. Ivy brought him back down and set him gently on the ground. Ivy eyed him over in the same way that she had the rose before. It was half intruige and half pity. She folded her arms and studied him for a few moments longer than what was comfortable while Nico busied himself by plucking thorns out of his jacket and brushing off the dirt. He wanted to say something but the looks she was giving him was unsettling and he couldn't bring himself to speak.

"Did he hurt you?" She asked at last, returning the rose bush to it's previous proportions. 

"No, I'm ok." She tilted her head at him before pulling some petals out of his hair. Nico stiffened at her approach but relaxed whenhe realized what she was doing. Just because one gamble paid off didn't mean that the next one would. He would still have to be careful. This was not the Pamela that he had once known. 

"Thanks, Pam... err, Ivy," Nico said awkwardly.

"Anytime. The plants seem to think you're one of them. A dandelion, perhaps?" She mused, sizing him up, "They seem to want me to place you under my protection-- which they have never done before. I don't know what makes you so special, but I trust the Earth's judgement." The villainess seemed bewildered by him. "Come to me if you need anything, I mean it. The plants told me you don't have parents? I guess I'll be your momma now, Momma Ivy. I like that." Ivy's eyes got mischievous but in a playful way. Nico didn't have any idea how to respond to that proclamation. He just nodded and thanked Ivy again before heading back towards the manor, leaving Ivy to care for the plants.

He had almost made it back to the manor when he was stopped by one more unwelcome face. This time, it was Batman. He had just turned the corner-- headed back towards the Wayne manor when a chastising voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Mr. Wayne called me again tonight. Saying once again you were missing. You need to stop doing this, I have more important things to deal with." Nico closed his eyes to use his soul-searching abilities. Was Bruce Wayne Batman? If he wasn't-- who was? After a second or so, he got the answer he needed. Ha, he knew it. He kept up the act that he didn't know who it was, pivoting slowly on his heels, finding Bruce leaning against a fence nearby.

"Yet, here you are. If I didn't know better, you protected this family too much." Nico pointed out. Batman ignored the remark. It was hard to take this being seriously, knowing who was behind the mask. 

"Are the Waynes not treating you right or something?" Batman asked gruffly. 

"If they did, I sure as hell wouldn't be going back, now would I?" Nico asked, gesturing with his entire arm towards the manor in the distance. He didn't want Bruce to think that he was doing anything wrong. In fact it was very much the opposite. Well, as far as his own personal experiences, at least.

"Then why do I keep meeting you under these circumstances?" He asked critically. He seemed to be picking at him as if trying to get him to confess what was troubling him.

"I just needed space." He shrugged uncomfortably. He knew that it sounded dumb when he said it out loud. The this is that Nico washardly ever around very many people for any extended amount of time so this was a big change from what he was used to. The culture shock was a bit too much to deal with all at once and he needed space to think. He probably needed more space than other teenagers because he had so many other sides to his life that he was trying to balance. The six people in the manor seemed like too many sometimes. 

"Find a better place to blow off steam, maybe the gym. The streets of Gotham are no place for a kid." Then Batman walked off into the night. Dramatic much Bruce? Nico walked slowly, allowing Bruce time to get back to the manor before him. He got the manor a couple of minutes later and walked up to the front door. He didn't even knock before the door was being opened by Alfred. He looked at Nico, his face remaining kind.

"Welcome back, Master Nico. Next time you choose to leave, might I request that you use the stairs? You gave Master Richard quite a fright." He spoke just as he might when asking one of the boys to do him a favor. Not chastising or anything. Nico gave him a small smile and nodded his agreement. Nico sidestepped Dick-- who was watching him suspiciously-- and continued his journey up to his room. On his way up, he was stopped by Bruce. He acted relieved to see him, which both amused and annoyed Nico. It wasn't like he didn't already know he was fine. They met in the corridor that led from the private entrance into the foyer that held the stairs that lead up to the bedrooms upstairs. Down this corridor was Bruce's office/his private study and the supplies closet.

"Oh good, you're alright! Batman just told me about your encounter with the Joker and Ivy a couple of blocks down?" Bruce looked interested and confused. Nico recognized this as a way to get the inside scoop without being suspicious. It was a good strategy-- or it would have been if his cover hadn't already been blown. There was a reason that Nico liked Bruce better than Batman, and this highlighted those reasons very plainly. 

"Yeah, it's a long story." Nico stood awkwardly in the hallway as Bruce's gaze rested solely on him. Bruce was wearing a pair of black sweat pants and a white T-shirt. If Nico didn't know better, he would have thought that he had been working out.

"Well, I've got time, and according to Batman, you and I need to chat." Nico could tell from the tone of voice he used that it wasn't a question-- it was an order. Nico frowned, thinking about the time that his father had used that same tone with him. It hadn't been a very fun conversation. It had been after he had dug up the flower bed to try and speak to his mother's spirit. The very thing that Hades had ordered him not to do. That conversation had quickly turned into a shouting match and almost ended in Hades incinerating him in his rage. He wouldn't have rated that very high on his favorite father-son moments. 

Bruce led the way to his study and opened the door for the young demigod. Nico took a couple of forced steps into the room and he felt Bruce come in behind him and shut the door. The clicking of the knob only served to increase his anxiety. The memories were coming on stronger now and he was remembering bits and pieces of the conversation with Hades and the acrid smell of the melted tree. He ahdn't realized how much he was not over that until now. He steeled himself and tried to shut out the sounds of his father reprimanding him for trying to see his mother. Hades had always been terrifying when he yelled, even to the other gods.

He was overstimulated. With all the change, the socializing, the realizations, the unadressed emotions, and the two encounters with a supervillain that wanted to own him as a pet-- he had finally reached his limit. Without him noticing, Nico had become really tense and was holding his breath, he waited for Bruce to do something, anything to break the tension. The memories and the voices of his father had faded into the background of his mind but he still wasn't calming down. 

He didn't understand what was causing this. Was he afraid of Bruce or was this just the memory? Why was his heart beating out of his chest? Was he dying? Would he even be able to tell if he was dying? Could he sense himself dying? The situation didn't help him narrow down what he thought might be causing the breakdown. Was it something else that was causing this? Was he still upset about his drawings? Was it his run-in with the Joker? There were so many things that had happened to him recently that he couldn't be sure. All he knew is that he wanted the world to slow down. 

Nico kept his head tilted toward the floor, avoiding eye contact. He didn't want Bruce to notice or take advantage of his vulnerablility. Would he perceive this as weakness or guilt? Did it matter? It didn't help that he already knew that he was in trouble. He knew that he shouldn't have left the house and wandered the streets of Gotham. Somehow, knowing that he were in the wrong was worse. YHe had to accept whatever came yohis way because he deserved to be stuck with the consequences of his actions.

Would his lack of eye contact make him think that he wasn't listening? Should he look at him or would that be seen as defiance? Nico didn't know what made Bruce mad-- which was stressing him out. He didn't know how to make the situation better or talk his way out of this one. Bruce wasn't Hades. Bruce might be the forgiving type, who knows? Whether he was the forgiving or strict type didn't really matter because Nico would have to accept the lecture and the punishment either way. He wouldn't disappoint Hades or Bruce by trying to get out of this, he would do the right thing this time, and take it in silence. 

Bruce moved around his desk, sitting down heavily in his seat with a long sigh that Nico took to be a sign of disappointment. Laying his hands folded on the desk, he opened his mouth to speak and Nico started to panic, expecting the only venom. He braced himself.

"We need to talk." Bruce continued talking about how he can't run away like that as Nico's panic slowly set in. It hadn't started out badly, but it still could turn into Bruce shouting at him. Hades had always started off controlled and reasonable before Nico would say something wrong and he would blow up at him. Hades had gotten better since Nico started spending more time with him-- he just wasn't used to dealing with living beings. Especially not ones whose emotions were so dependent on him. Whatever the case was, Nico had had some pretty intense fights with his father over the years and he had no reason to suspect that Bruce wouldn't be the same.

"I know you could do whatever you wanted on the streets, but now you have a place to stay, rules to follow. You need to stop running away when someone upsets you. You aren't the only one with feelings in this house. I don't know if you realized it, but you scared Dick really badly jumping out of the window like that. You could have been hurt." Bruce went on like that, making Nico feel really selfish and immature.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare him." He apologized meekly. The apology sounded childish and weak, even to him. Immature. 

"I know, you didn't, but you have to understand that running away from your problems isn't the answer," Bruce responded. Nico bristled, he certainly knew that. That was the same thing Hades had told him when he announced his intention to leave camp to live in the Underworld. That had led into a long argument about whether or not Nico had ever- not run from his problems. It had ended in a stalemate. Hades had told him that thinking that leaving camp would change anything was naive and stupid. He didn't care how much Nico hated it at camp or the fact that he wasn't wanted there. He didn't care if there was no point in him staying at camp since no one would spar or train with him anyway. He had insisted that Nico needed to face the other campers and give them a chance. Nico argued that he already had. 

"Are you listening to me?" Bruce asked. Nico nodded though he hadn't been. 

"What's the matter? This isn't really that big of a deal. Nothing to cry over." Bruce sat back in his chair. He hadn’t realized it, but there were tears in his eyes. He wiped them with the palm of his hand and then stared at them blankly. Was he really crying? Seriously? 

"It's nothing, please continue," Nico assured him breathily. He tried to calm down, after all, Bruce was right. This wasn't anything worth crying over. He tried to take deep breaths but his mind had taken over and his thoughts were running out of control.

[Panic attack]

Now it wasn't just about Bianca, it was about his betrayal of Percy and how selfish he had been to sacrifice such a friendship for information. It was about the campers ignoring him for things that were beyond his control. It was about his own infinite solitude, since the only people who cared for him were people who were required to care. It was about his own miserable existence and his limited opportunities to improve his life due to his short life expectancy. It was the selfish feeling of having these thoughts and not taking other people's troubles into consideration. It was all of his problems crashing back down on him at once so hard that he couldn't breathe.

His heart sped up and his breathing got shallow as his throat constricted. His muscles in his arms and chest started clenching. He felt as though his skin were crawling with the tension that only he could feel and he resisted the urge to rub his arms. He began having to swallow continually in order to relieve some of the pressure in his throat. His head started to pound from the stress, the rushing in his ears throbbing in time. He lost focus of reality, nothing else but his panic mattered. 

He was too busy trying to breathe and calm down to hear what Bruce was saying or to realize when he had stopped speaking. His breaths were getting more shallow, not being physically capable of taking a deep breath anymore. He was no longer paying too much attention to what was going on around him until Bruce stood up. All he could think of was breathing.

++Bruce++

Having 4 troubled boys, Bruce easily recognized it as a panic attack. He just had no idea what caused it. He was shocked, to say the least, to see that, in the middle of his lecture, Nico had started gasping for air and his eyes were wide and unfocused. He stood up to move towards Nico, but the boy's eyes snapped towards him with such fear within them that he stayed back. He had dealt with this sort of thing before with kids he found on the street, Nico was probably reliving a traumatic event related to being on the street for so long or maybe even being abused. 

Knowing this, Bruce slowly raised his hands into the international sign for surrendering. Nico watched him wide-eyed, his pupils were wide and he seemed to be having trouble focusing on anything. He looked back to the ground and clutched his chest taking one uneven breath after another, tears streaming down his face. One fist balled up his shirt and the other methodically rubbed his thigh. This was a self-soothing technique that Bruce had seen many times before. 

It was obvious to Bruce that something about the situation had caused this, but he couldn't, for the life of him, think of anything that might have scared him so bad. As far as he knew, he hadn't made any threatening gestures or said anything fear invoking. He finally opted to put the theorizing to the back of his mind and focus on calming the panicking boy down. Nico backed up until he leaned against a wall and then slid down it until he was crouching. 

Bruce slowly made his way towards Nico who curled in fetal position on his knees and holding the back of his neck. He was actively trying to take deep breaths and it would work for a few seconds before he would be overtaken again. Thoughts flashed through his head so quickly that he didn't have time to register them. The one constant one was just continuously screaming about how pathetic and weak he was. It was overpowering. 

"Nico... Nico hey! I need you to calm down. I don't know what is wrong but I need you to calm down for me, ok? Just breathe. You're not in any danger." Bruce tried, soothingly. As an afterthought, he added, "I'm not mad, I promise. You're not in trouble." Nico sucked in a breath and held it, resetting his lungs for a moment so he could actually get a deep breath. It took a couple of tries before he was able to break the cycle of hyperventilation and regular breathing but he got there eventually. 

"May I touch you?" Bruce knew that this was an important question ask. Some people in a panic attack couldn't take the stimulation of being touched or maybe touch was what had caused it in the first place. Not every person wanted to be touched after an attack and he needed to make sure that he wasn't going to make things worse for Nico. The son of Hades shook his head-- no touching. 

"Ok, that's fine. I won't touch you." He promised. he respected his request, but it did make him curious. Why did he not want to be touched? Was it the overstimulation, a normal touch aversion, or a touch aversion caused by trauma? He obviously had trauma, and from what they knew about him, some of it had come from his father. According to Nico's documentation, his mother had burned to death in a house fire. His father and his sister managed to make it out in time. Several years later his father committed suicide and left the children a trust fund that sent them to the Military Academy. There was a lot of time between when their mother died and when their father committed suicide, and from the hints that Nico has made, they didn't sound like it was a pleasant experience. Had their father abused them? If so, how? 

Obviously, there are many types of abuse, neglect, emotional, physical, sexual, etc. Perhaps it was neglect? Nico had mentioned that his dad nearly burned him alive after locking him in his room. Was that more commonplace in his house than he had let on? Was he afraid of being locked up? The thought of someone treating their child like that made his blood boil. Just what had Haden (Hades's alias) done to him? He swore to himself that if it came to the worst... he would never rest until he found Haden's grave and spat on it.

In the background, Bruce heard footsteps coming down the hall and heard someone enter the room. It was good that someone had dragged him from his thoughts because he had a large urge to punch something but that probably wouldn't be a good idea with Nico being in the state that he was in. Bruce didn't dare look away from Nico who was still coming down off the panic attack. Luckily, his brain was starting to regain some control over his actions. He was beginning to realize that he was not in a dangerous situation after all. His muscles were still tense but his breathing slowed down significantly and had been getting increasingly deeper.

Alfred knelt down, handing Nico a glass of water and after a few sips, he finally seemed to remember where he was. He looked at each of them individually with a faint blush on his cheeks. Nico pulled himself up into a normal sitting position and pulled his knees up to his chest, his head resting on his knees. He stayed like that for several minutes. Bruce almost thought he fell asleep when he suddenly said,

[End panic attack]

"I-i'm sorry. Just a... Bad memory." He said weakly. Bruce held his hand out to Nico who eyed it warily at first before taking it and allowing himself to be helped up. Bruce helped Nico sit down in the nearest chair before going around his desk again and sitting down. Alfred remained in the room near the door. Nico wouldn't meet anyone's eyes.

"Ok, Nico. I really need you to tell me what just happened," Bruce said gently.

"I uh. Just remembered something my uh... father did a little while back." Nico replied, being purposely vague. It wasn't really about his father but he didn't want to or couldn't tell Bruce about any of the other stuff just yet so he had to make something up. When no one said anything he realized that they were going to force him to explain. He tensed, he didn't want to talk about it. He didn't want to tell the truth but he also would feel guilty if he lied. Seeing another potential breakdown, Bruce quickly clarified.

"I just want to know the trigger for now. I don't want something like this to happen again." Nico relaxed somewhat.

"Uhh, well uhh." Nico floundered for the words and it occurred to Bruce that he might be embarrassed.

"No answer is a stupid answer," Bruce reassured him softly. He didn't want to interrupt the boy from saying what he needed to say.

Nico breathed, "I... my father... uh was never... happy with me. He called me immature and naive a lot because I was. He lectured me about the same way you were. There was one specific instance I was thinking of, but I don't want to talk about it..." Nico trailed off.

"Are those the only things?"

"Yeah, it's just..." Nico physically shuddered, " I was also remembering one time when I was out on the streets and got backed into a corner by a bunch of criminals. They mugged me and left me there to die so... yeah." He added, hoping that he hadn't overdone it. It was sort of a true event, just without the supernatural aspects.

++Nico++

Bruce's jaw and fists clenched and his eyes darkened. When Nico looked up he mistook Bruce's anger as being directed towards him and he winced. He hadn't expected this response and didn't know what to do to make him less angry so he did the first thing that came to mind, damage control. He instantly tried to cover up what he said to lessen Bruce's anger. Nico fiddled with his skull ring which he had taken off and was now rolling it between his fingers. He had gone too far with the explanations. After a few moments Bruce took a deep breath and let the subject drop.

Silence fell over the group. Luckily the silence only lasted for about a minute before Bruce spoke up, "Nico, I still would like to know about what happened tonight a few blocks down. 

"So, Batman said..." Nico had to hold back a snort as Bruce started to speak, "that you seemed to know Poison Ivy already as ah... Pam was it?"

Nico, who was regaining his confidence by the second, decided to play along, "Yeah. She used to be Pamela Isley. I don't know how she turned into... that exactly, but that isn't the same Pam."

"How did you first meet her?"

"Well, I went to an Envirothon thing with a friend of mine and she had a table set up there talking about plants and harmful chemicals and such. She really liked my friend who is a nature enthusiast as well so by default she liked me. Good thing too." Nico told the partial truth. It was all true except that it wasn't only by default that Pam liked him. He had been able to talk with her about how dead and decaying organisms provided fertilizer for plants. She had been impressed by his knowledge of organic fertilizers. That was the only reason she liked him. That and the fact that Persephone had turned him into a Dandelion before. Not fun. Bruce/Batman only nodded. Nico figured that he was mainly portraying his alter ego at the moment. Alfred had remained in the same position for the whole discussion.

"So Ivy is now your..." 

"She thinks that she is my mother figure. She said to come to her whenever I needed help." Nico confessed, knowing that Batman probably already knew that anyway.

"Strange." Nico could only nod. Then he yawned and was dismissed to bed. He walked down the halls side-stepping anyone he came across before entering his room and collapsing on his bed. He was out almost immediately. The adrenaline from the panic attack had long since left him and he felt exhausted.


	12. Batfam Exposed

The next morning, Nico woke up exceedingly early. It was 5 AM, and he wasn't in the mood for life today. He took a shower, and then got dressed and took care of his personal hygiene. He risked a glance and the mirror and was surprised to find that he wasn't repulsed by what he saw. Instead of the corpse that usually greeted him, he was met by an actually presentable figure. His hair was still in his eyes, the natural breaks making it look semi-spiky [see Viria fanart]. His cheeks still were tight but no longer looked hollowed. His skin was pale but it at least sort of had his olive glow again. There were shadows beneath his eyes, but they no longer looked bloodshot. If he put on a couple more pounds, he might even be considered attractive.

He didn't dwell on his reflection for long, being well aware of the story of Narcissus. Plus, he really wasn't much to look at. Sure, he wasn't ugly, but he wasn't going to be a heart-throb anytime soon, that's for sure. He finished up quickly before sneaking out of the house and into the garden. He really didn't want to face anyone just yet. Last night had been embarrassing. Just thinking about how pathetic and vulnerable he must have seemed made him cringe. That wasn't the impression he had wanted Bruce to have of him. He had probably just reaffirmed that he couldn't take care of himself in Bruce's mind. 

He left for the orchard, dodging Alfred on his way out. He didn't really feel like talking to anyone yet this morning. He didn't want to take out his bad mood on Alfred. That would not go over well for anybody. When Nico got out to the orchard, he climbed up in a tree and just sat there-- staring at the manor through gaps in the leaves. He studied the classic gothic design with vague interest-- not understanding the design types but appreciating it nonetheless. The estate itself was massive-- it must cost a fortune. It definitely didn't seem like a place that he would belong. 

Nico eyed the three-story mansion apprehensively and wondered if he should stay. He was dangerous. What if he panicked again and lashed out? What if he attracted the Joker again-- or monsters for that matter? Could he really justify staying there despite the risks? He should never have taken Bruce up on his offer. He did it for selfish reasons-- because he was tired of his hardships. Shame washed over him. He should just return to the underworld. At least there, no one could get hurt by him or the monsters he attracted. Hades wasn't so bad. Sure, he had his moments, but who didn't? He was a lot better than he used to be.

Nico considered it for a long time but couldn't come up with the conviction to actually leave. Whether he admitted it or not, he was beginning to get comfortable here. The manor may not look like somewhere he belonged, but it felt like he did. He didn't want to leave this all behind. 

Nico sighed aloud from his place in the tree, having realized that he really did not want to leave the manor. He knew he should, but the Wayne's were in little danger from the monsters, considering the protection field, and besides, they were the bat family-- they could take care of themselves. Having decided that he wouldn't leave, for now, he relaxed and watched the sunrise. It wasn't until well after 7:30 A.M that anyone came looking for him. Luckily, Alfred had seen him leave for the orchard, so they didn't have to go out on another manhunt. Bruce decided that it was past time for Nico to learn........

Self-defense. Yes, he had shown that he had pretty good reflexes and knowledge about ancient sword fighting, but they had never seen him in an actual fight. With all the villains around, it was critical that he learns how to protect himself. Especially if he was going to be a part of this family-- they were high-value targets, and they needed to know how to deal with those situations so that they didn't escalate. There was the added benefit that it would be good for their relationship. Admittedly, Bruce didn't know much about bonding, but training with the other boys always seemed to do the trick; maybe this would be just what they needed.

Bruce got dressed in athletic gear and headed out to the orchard, making sure that he didn't silence his footfall out of habit. He didn't really want to startle the boy. He easily spotted Nico, his black attire standing out against the colorful fall leaves. It was kind of wet and chilly outside, and Bruce worried that Nico might catch a cold. How long had he been out here? He approached the tree where Nico had taken refuge. He stood still underneath, knowing that Nico had most likely seen him coming. When Nico didn't come down, he called out to him.

"Com'on Nico, you're going to catch a cold, and then Alfred will be upset with both of us," Bruce said semi-teasingly. He heard shuffling from above, and leaves fell as Nico made his descent. Soon he was holding onto the lowest tree branch, only holding on by his hands. He let go and quietly dropped to the ground.

Bruce gave him a questioning look, "Can't afford to annoy Alfred," was all Nico said. 

"Walk with me." Bruce motioned for him to follow him deeper into the grove. What about catching a cold? Now it was Nico's turn to look at Bruce questioningly; the manor was the other way. Bruce wasn't looking at Nico and therefore did not see the look. Nico didn't feel threatened, and his intuition remained silent, so he allowed himself to be led wherever Bruce wanted to go. After walking a short distance, they came upon an old abandoned sitting area. Bruce took one bench and motioned for Nico to take the one across from him-- reluctantly he complied. Once settled, Bruce leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. This seemed to be the start of a serious discussion. He was probably going to ask about last night, the son of Hades realized, his heart sinking. 

"What about annoying Alfred?" Nico asked. Bruce smirked but didn't respond to the question.

"Nico, I think it's time you learn self-defense," Bruce said gently yet firmly. Nico had to resist the urge to scoff.

"I can defend myself." Nico countered. Bruce pursed his lips, not wanting to get in an argument. 

"Look, maybe you can with a sword or whatever, but you won't always have it on you. You need to become proficient at hand-to-hand fighting styles too. Especially if you keep deciding to make more trips into town." Bruce pressed more firmly this time.   
"I..." Nico started before Bruce interrupted.

"This is not up for discussion. I am more than willing to train with you. It will give us time to get to know each other, and I will personally feel much better knowing that you are able to take care of yourself." 

"Fine," Nico replied finally. He knew when he was losing an argument. This wasn't worth fighting about anyway. This was Batman he was talking to. He could potentially get some serious training out of it. 

"Great! Let's go inside and eat, then we can hit the gym. The other boys will be in there too. They all practice self-defense too." 

"Why?" 

"Because we get a lot of people coming after us for some reason or another. Dick was kidnapped so many times I lost count, and there have been numerous armed robberies at the manor. We've all needed to learn how to protect ourselves if we need to. That's the price of being rich and famous in Gotham." Bruce shrugged nonchalantly. Nico considered this. It made sense. Even if he wasn't Batman, he probably still would have learned some form of self-defense over the years. Bruce wasn't a fool, though the media tried their best to prove otherwise. 

++++

"Show me what you've got," Bruce said, standing in the center of the ring. Nico stood on the outside, looking at the ring distastefully. He slowly stepped in and immediately felt inadequate. He stood there, with his sweatpants and long sleeves black shirt feeling tiny next to Bruce. This wasn't exactly what he had pictured, though he really should have seen this coming. This was Batman, after all. Nico imagined that he had more of a sin-or-swim curriculum. 

"What? Do you want me to fight you?" Nico asked incredulously. Bruce didn't respond, and Nico whistled and said, "Ok, I'm doomed." Damian chuckled from the sidelines where he stood with the others. They had all come to watch him die, it would seem. Without warning, Bruce charged. Nico fell into a fighting stance almost without thinking. As he approached, Nico tensed, ready for the fight to start. It was a good thing his instincts were taking over because, if he had been thinking, he would have run the other way.

Bruce made to tackle him, but Nico jumped straight up and over Bruce, kicking his feet down as he passed underneath. Bruce sprawled on his face, having been expecting to make contact, while Nico turned his own fall into a forward dive roll. Nico had enough momentum to roll up into a standing position. Almost immediately, he was in a fighting stance. Bruce picked himself up and faced the battle-ready Demigod. Bruce realized that something had changed in Nico's eyes, he was not just sparing-- he was fighting for his life. Bruce wondered just how often Nico actually had to defend himself. He obviously knew something about defense and fighting if he'd pulled off that move before.

He and Nico circle each other, looking for weakness. Bruce lunged suddenly, hoping to make contact with a right hook. Nico blocked Bruce's punch, and his fist connected with Bruce's face hard. Bruce stumbled back a few paces. Naturally, Bruce was going easy on Nico because he was not up to Batman standards. Even still, he was holding his own, which was more than any of them had expected. Bruce and Nico sparred back and forth for a little while, getting used to each other's style and adapting to fit them.

Nico was trained, Bruce realized. He was trained professionally, not by some summer camp. Or at least not any normal ones. His posture and moves were too advanced to be self-taught, and he was adapting to Bruce's styles better than even Richard had at the beginning. He definitely had fighting experience, but who would train a child so young? And why? Obviously, he knew of a few people who had done just that. The League of Shadows, the Court of Owls, The League of Assassins, The Light, and even superheroes would take on young proteges and train them to fight. However, Nico didn't seem to have much idea about what was going on in the hero world. Was he that good of an actor, or did someone else train him?

Eventually, Bruce caught Nico across the face with another right hook, and Nico fell to the ground with an 'ompf'. Bruce was about to make sure he didn't hurt him too badly, but Nico just started laughing. Nico rolled over on his stomach and pushed himself up, still chuckling.

"That was fun. It's been a while..." Nico trailed off, the grin disappearing from his face. He seemed to be remembering something unpleasant.

"Since what?" Bruce asked. Nico looked over at him, his expression bitter.

"Since I've sparred for fun." He said before moving out of the ring. He went over to a bench and grabbed a water. Bruce wrapped a towel around his neck and followed. Dick and Jason got in the ring and started trying to kill each other while everyone else just watched.

++Nico++

When Nico got cooled off, he left Bruce to stand by the edge of the ring. Dick seemed to have the upper hand for the moment and was doing flips around Jason, who was throwing punches just a little bit late. They were obviously holding back, and he thought he knew why. They didn't want to overdo it with him around. They still didn't want to show him their true abilities in case he were to guess the secret. 

"And they call him the 'boy hostage'? Nico asked. He knew the secret, but he had to act like he didn't.

"Yeah, well, he wasn't so good when he was little." Bruce didn't miss a beat coming up with the lie. Except for the fact that Nico could sense who he was, he would have no idea that Bruce was the Batman. Everything was so well hidden that he would have taken months to figure it out on his own. Thank the gods for powers... sometimes. The demigod nodded and had to hold in a snort. Bruce looked at him weirdly, and Nico acted like he was coughing. Bruce handed him a water bottle, which he refused, and they watched the match in silence.

The match ended up with the boys having each other in a headlock, and Bruce ended up having to separate the pair. Then Damian and Tim went at it. Nico was more interested in seeing the Damian fight than Tim because he seemed well trained, even without fighting. The match was close, but Damian ended up winning. Tim didn't seem happy about that, and I could understand why. Damian was the younger of the two. I doubted Bianca would have been too happy if I had beaten her in something either. 

Bruce watched Nico the entire time, but he wasn't quite sure why. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to be in awe of these guys or if he looked sick or something. When the fights were over, they all stood in a circle, and Bruce started critiquing their performances. The criticism that he gave was constructive and touched on both the pros and cons of each boy. It was much better than Hades' system, which was only listing the faults. This one, at least, didn't totally destroy anyone's ego.

"Dick, go for the easy knockouts, don't play around too much, and waste your energy. Jason, you get sloppy when you're angry at Dick, stay focused, and you'll start getting the advantage because your style is more consistent than his. Tim, you think too much, which causes you to hesitate. Let muscle memory and instinct do some of the work. Damian, don't be so aggressive. We don't fight to kill." Everyone went completely still as though Bruce had spilled their greatest secret. Nico didn't really think much of this since he had always been trained to kill. The group exchanged concerned glances before their eyes settled on him. Nico tried not to notice.

"Nico, at your summer camp, were you in danger of dying?" Bruce asked, putting it bluntly. Then Nico understood-- they thought that his summer camp was what had trained him to fight. They weren't wrong, but he couldn't have them thinking that. He wasn't sure what they would do to the camp if they knew. 

"No. Why?" Nico frowned in confusion. 

"I guess my question is: where and why did you have to fight, other than sparring." He inquired. He froze, trying to think of what he could or could not tell them. There was nothing he could think to say that would make his situation any less suspicious. 

"That's... complicated. I always have to fight for survival." The demigod shugged. 

"Why?" 

"Please don't ask why, because I can't tell you. As for where, well, that is also complicated... basically anywhere that I've spent an extended amount of time at." He answered as carefully as he could. He didn't get smited, so he guessed he didn't say too much.

"Why can't you tell us? Will someone hurt you?" Tim asked. Nico considered this for a minute.

"I guess you could say that. Let's just leave it as I can't, ok?" Nico crossed his arms uncomfortably. He didn't like the looks that they were giving him. Their eyes were suspicious-- they didn't trust him. He couldn't blame him. he had only been here for about a month-- not even a whole month. He woulddn't trust him either. There was also the fact that this was the Bat family he was talking to. They had caution and suspicion drilled into them for years of coure they were going to be suspicious. 

"Well, since we're sharing secrets, do you all have something I should know?" This may not have been the best time but the question was out of his mouth before he could even consider filtering it. It was too late to back down now. Tim's face looked like a fish, and it reminded Ncio of Percy when he did his fish impression. If the air wasn't so tense, it would have been funny. 

"Who told you?" Jason growled. Nico raised his eyebrows at him, tying to appear unimpressed. Maybe if he acted like it wasn't that big of a deal, they wouldn't react so badly. He didn't even have a way to justify why he knew the secret at all. This was a mistake. 

"Wait, we don't even know that he knows it." Tim reasoned, watching Nico.

"What? That he prowls around dressed as a bat, and the rest of you are involved? That secret is the one we're talking about, right?" Nico clarified. 

"How could you possibly know that? Did someone tell you? Who have you told?" Damian was glaring at him and had his arms crossed. Nico had never seen him look so much like Bruce before this moment. He was literally a smaller version of Bruce. 

"No one told me; I figured it out. I haven't told anybody either, and I don't plan to." Nico replied hotly. Damian glared right back at him. It would have turned into a staring match if Bruce hadn't intervened. 

"How did you figure it out?" Bruce asked, eyeing the son of Hades. Maybe he had seriously underestimated this child. How had he figured it out without them even knowing he was looking?

"I can't tell you that; just know that there is no way someone else would know." He replied. Nico knew that this was a small consolation, especially if they didn't believe him. There was no way that he could come up with a convincing lie about how he figured it out and that would only make them more suspicious of him. All he could do it hope that they would take his word for it. It was a lot ot ask of them since he had only been there for a short time. 

"Why do you have so many things that you can't tell us? You know our secret. We should know yours." Jason asked, annoyed.

"I agree, but I would be killed if I were to tell you, and I am more afraid of them than I am of you. Though, if you guess my secret on your own, then I could speak somewhat freely about it. Until then... my hands are tied." Nico explained.

"How do we know you aren't lying?" Damian asked suspiciously.

"Hint 1: Ask Diana Prince. She can vouch for me; she knows of the agreement I made," he said, "She knows a lot about me and can assure you that I am not a threat to you."

"Is that how you know her? Your secret?" Dick asked curiously.

"Not exactly. You see... she had a part to play in my sister's death. I have always been good at holding grudges, and it has almost gotten me killed many times." 

"What else do you know about us?" Dick was the only one who didn't seem mad at him, which he was grateful for. Nico was uncomfortable enough knowing that the other four people in this room were upset with him. 

"There are a lot of things I know about you, all of you. If you figure out my secret, I can and will tell you everything." Nico promised.

"We can protect you, Nico. These people you're scared of won't be able to hurt you with us around," Bruce assured him.

"Normally, I'd say you were right, but these people are a little more powerful than your average criminal. If I break this oath... well, there are things worse than death. Trust me, I should know." He said, thinking of how horrible the field of punishment is.

"Why should you know? Have you ever broken an oath such as this before?" Tim asked. He shook my head and shuddered involuntary, thinking of the spirits he had seen who had.

"No, but I've seen some of the people who have. It isn't pretty." 

"So there are more people who have taken this oath?" Bruce asked.

"Well, sure. Lots of people like me take these types of oaths. They are all for different types of things, but most of us have taken one at one time or another. Mine is just that I can't spill my secrets unless given permission or they become common knowledge for this family. The oath is binding." 

"What is an example of another oath?" Tim asked. Nico thought about, trying to decide how to explain it in a non-supernatural light.

"Well, oaths of revenge... where you swear that you will do everything in your power to get even with the person who slighted you. Or an oath of loyalty which is self-explanatory, or an oath of truth, just to name a few, which lets someone know you aren't lying." He explained before taking a drink of his water bottle.

"My cousin once swore he wasn't a thief. He was telling the truth, so he survived." He said after a short pause.

"Cousin?" Nico nodded but didn't elaborate. Family was a touchy subject.

"Nico, who can give you permission to spill your secrets?" He winced. He hadn't thought they would ask that. Nico Shook his head. He couldn't tell them that the person he made the oath to was none other than Hades the Greek god of the Underworldd-- they'd send him to Arkham for sure.


	13. The Great Escape

"Who, Nico?" the boy in question fell silent. He certainly couldn't tell them that the god of the underworld was the only one who could allow him to tell them his secret. He also couldn't tell them that said Greek god was his father, which is why he was the one he made the oath with. That wasn't an option. So, he couldn't tell the truth. At least, not all of it. Though Nico was getting tired of having to lie for the gods. He wanted to have just one thing in his life that wasn't complicated-- that wasn't shrouded in mystery or lies. He wanted to tell the truth. 

"It doesn't matter. There are only two ways that I can tell you. If they let me or if you guess. They aren't going to let me so you better guess." He said before leaving the room, completely done with being interrogated. Nico didn't hear them follow him so he assumed that they were still in the gym discussing this new info. Let them talk. They probably didn't want him around right then anyway. He had probably just lost all their trust-- something that could have easily been avoided if he had better impulse control. Why couldn't he keep his mouth shut?

The son of Hades just really wanted to talk to Percy or Annabeth, or someone who he didn't have to lie to. He didn't have to make sure he didn't say something wrong to him in case he got smote. They may still not be close with him, but at least they trusted him to some extent. He and Percy had been working on their relationship a little bit. They were better now. Percy understood why had done what he did at the doors of Orpheus. There was still tension, but the son of Poseidon had mostly forgiven him now. Percy wasn't really one for holding grudges. Nico was so lost in thought that he rammed his shoulder into a wall while turning a corner. He stumbled back a few paces and glared at it.

"Why are you in my way stupid barrier made of drywall and plaster!?" he hissed at it, he had always wanted to say that. It wasn't as satisfying out loud as it had been in his head. He heard a chuckle behind him and he turned around to see Dick standing there. Turns out that Alfred wasn't the only one who could appear suddenly. Nico took comfort in the fact that he didn't seem to be angry with him. Maybe he hadn't totally ruined things with the Waynes just yet. Or maybe Dick just didn't hold grudges. 

"What did the 'stupid barrier' ever do to you?" He wanted to know.

"It existed. What do you want?" Nico shot back. Dick shrugged and pushed off the wall.

"I want to know what is bugging you, mostly." Nico eyed him. Why was he interested? Hadn't Bruce warned them to be cautious around him? Why would he care about whether or not anything was going on with him? Dick seemed to be genuinely curious so Nico decided to humor him. 

"I'm just frustrated. I didn't want to ruin your trust in me earlier. I want to tell you what is wrong, but I can't," he started, "Now I doubt that Bruce will let me leave to see a friend from camp. I can't blame him, but I haven't seen him in a while." Nico said with a sigh. He rubbed his hand down his face. 

"Do they know your secret?" Nico shrugged in response, it wasn't a lie. He had no idea if Percy knew that he had taken an oath of secrecy or not. "Is he at camp?" Again he shrugged.

"If he was he would have tried to get in contact with me by now," he said, knowing that he didn't have any mortal means of communicating, "He would know that I wasn't at camp. He must still be in Manhattan." he reasoned. Nico didn't mention getting in contact with him at the mall, because he couldn't very well tell Dick about Iris messages. Or that he was the subject of another manhunt like Nico was after we fled the military school. 

"Can you call him?" Without thinking, Nico violently shook his head no. Richard looked at the younger boy in confusion and some concern. His voice went gentle as he spoke, "ok, ok... no calling." Nico felt silly, Dick probably thought he was afraid of the device itself now.

"Yeah, nevermind I'll just send him a letter I guess. He will get it when he gets back to camp, I'm sure." he said, thinking of iris messaging him later tonight. He'd have to actually send a letter or something and wait for a long enough time for it to have actually made it to Percy to keep the others from getting suspicious, but at least he could talk to someone for now. It was better nothing, that's for sure.

That night Nico waited until the others left on patrol to IM Percy. He was in the middle of dinner and was stuffing his face with pizza. This was nothing new-- the boy could eat like one of his father's creations. Though this told Nico that the older demigod was definitely at camp because he would never eat like that in front of Sally.

"Percy!" he called. Percy's eyes shot up from his food and his eyes widened almost comically at the sight of him. did he really look different or was he just surprised. Nico looked down at his outfit. It was a simple black t-shirt and a pair of dark gray sweatpants. Maybe he did look a little odd. 

"Nico! Chiron told me you were actually being adopted? I thought this was temporary!"

"Yeah. Bruce Wayne adopted and I've been living with him and his family for a while now."

"So you're living with mortals?" Percy scrunched up his nose. He had lived with mortals way longer than Nico had. Longer than most of the kids at camp had. He of all people had a reason to mistrust mortals. Smelly Gabe hadn't exactly been a good experience from the hints that Percy had dropped over the years. The son of Hades felt it fitting that man had been turned to stone. 

"Yeah." He didn't elaborate-- feeling awkward. Nico didn't want to talk about the situation he was currently in. He knew that Percy wouldn't react well to knowing that Bruce was suspicious of him. Percy's loyalty would be the death of him someday. Apparently his apprehension was clear because Percy frowned.

"Why did you IM me? Are you in trouble? Do you need help?" Nico waved away his question. He didn't want him to get the wrong ideas. Bruce may be mad at him right now, but Nico didn't think that he was in any real danger. Wouldn't Bruce have done something to him already if he were angry? Wouldn't he have already tried to force it out of him as Batman or lecture him as Bruce? Nico wasn't sure what constituted normal punishments these days. It had been a long time since he had had parental figure around to enact discipline. Hades' version of a punishment was to send him to his room at the palace. Was that a typical father thing to do?

"I'm fine, Percy. I just wanted to let you know that I am ok. The adoption was pretty unexpected but I don't think I'm in danger here. I'm in Gotham, with Bruce Wayne, not a bad set-up if you ask me." He mused, gesturing around the room. He didn't share any of his other concerns with Percy-- he didn't want to worry him. Plus, anytime he brought up things from his past, people gave him a pitying look. He couldn't stand that look. 

"Don't scare me like that again, especially with everything going on." He said sternly, suddenly serious.

"What? Percy, what's going on?" The son of Hades asked, not entirely sure of what he was talking about.

"You know, with the monsters?" Nico stared at him blankly, "The monsters aren't staying dead." He lost focus and sank into his thoughts, Percy kept talking but he didn't hear him. Horrible images of invincible monsters crossed the younger's mind. Then he felt a glimmer of hope...Bianca. He could bring her back. 

Nico cut the connection with Percy after a hasty farewell. He grabbed his backpack and then shadow traveled to the doors of Orpheus. He pulled out a reed pipe that he had taken from a fallen satyr during the war. At the time, he was planning on putting it in the attic with the other artifacts but he had never gotten around to it. Nico held it to his lips and played the worst-sounding note he could. It wasn't so hard-- he sucked at musical instruments.

The rock split and the stairs to the underworld appeared. Nico didn't hesitate to continue his journey-- he was on a mission that he could not fail. Nico walked straight past Cerberus and the checkpoints and past the fields of punishment and asphodel to Elysium. It wasn't exactly a happy reunion. He searched for hours and hours to find Bianca, but he couldn't. Nico felt my heart crush in on itself like a tin can, she had tried for rebirth. Bianca was gone. He walked back through Elysium and into asphodel, mindlessly watching the spirits who forgot who they were. Now he would never see her again, even after he died, maybe it would be kinder to go to asphodel.

He passed most spirits by without a second glance. They didn't know who or where they were. They were lost to time. Their faces were of little consequence to him. There was one, however, that caught his eyes. She was looking about the place, her reddish/brown, frizzy, hair framing her face. Her skin was dark, cocoa brown, and unblemished. Something about her stuck out. Her eyes didn't look lost, she knew why she was here-- she remembered her past. But why?

Nico felt connected to her, more than he had with anyone ever before-- his instinct was to protect her. Her aura was that of death, but also something colder. She was a child of Hades or some death god at least. If the Roman demigods actually do exist, like that one soul in Elysium had told me, then she could be a daughter of Pluto. He had claimed to be a son of Mercury, died at the hands of a cyclops. Either way, she was his sister and he was here to help. She may not be the person he had come for, but she was better than leaving empty handed. She was a second chance.

He went to the spirit, "You're different," the spirit looked up at him with beautiful, almost golden eyes, "You remember your past." 

The spirit watched him. Nico could see that she was curious-- eyeing him carefully. Normal souls were not curious, "I came here looking for my sister, but I couldn't find her. I was hoping to bring her back from the dead." Nico wasn't sure why he was telling her these things but he felt the need to say it.

"You're my sister too, you deserve a second chance. Come with me." He held out his hand to her and she took it. Nico dragged her across the barriers of the different afterlives and out the gates. Cerberus barked but didn't dare leave his post as the son of Hades ran off with his new-found sister. He took her back to where the doors or Orpheus were. This time, there was a sign above the door that read exit.

He didn't know if this would work as a means to bring her back but he knew that she deserved a chance and this was it. Ncio pointed towards the stairs, "Go, I will be right behind you. Don't look back until I say, you hear?" The girl nodded. Nico told her not to look because this was the same exit that Hades told Orpheus to use to bring his love back. The one condition had been that he could not look back until they were both out of the Underworld. Orpheus turned around too quickly and his wife remained dead. This was so close to the same story that he decided it couldn't hurt to not look.

After what seemed like forever they reached the top and they walked out into the cold air. The girl stood in front of him, solid again, inhabiting her own body. She had yet to turn around and the doors closed safely behind him.

"Ok, you can turn around now, I think," he said, checking to make sure the doors were really closed. The girl turned around to face him, her face was even prettier with blood flowing in her veins again. Her eyes were a little scared and also full of wonder.

"Thank you, I had almost forgotten what it was like to be alive. I am alive, right? I feel alive." She asked watching him carefully as she ran her hands down her sides to see if she was real, though ghosts could still touch other ghosts and themselves so... 

"Yes. Do you remember your name?" He asked, knowing she would be disoriented. This was a lot to take in for both of them.

"Yes, my name is Hazel. Hazel Levesque and I am..." she trailed off.

"Are what?" he coaxed.

"You won't believe me..." Hazel looks back at the sealed doorway, "on the other hand, maybe you would. I think I am a daughter of Pluto, the Roman god of the dead." He nodded.

"Very good, you remember more than I thought you would. I am Nico di Angelo, son of... Pluto." I caught myself. I didn't think that it was wise to tell her that I was a Greek. There must be a reason that the two don't mix. Right? 

"You're a child of Pluto too?" He eyes widened hopefully. I knew that look. It was hope. The hope that you were no longer alone in the world. It was then that he knew he had made the right decision. 

"Yep."

"Where am I now? This certainly isn't Alaska." She said looking around.

"Alaska? Why in the god's names were you in Alaska?" Nico asked, having heard from his father that Alaska was the land that the gods cannot reach. How had she ended up there of all places? Hazel hesitated before she eventually gave in and told her story. It ws a long and sad tale, and Nico could tell that she had left a lot out, but he didn't pry. She would tell him when and if she was ready. 

"My mother was mad at Pluto and moved us there. Gaea made her do it though, put voices in her head." Hazel defended.

"What would the Earth primordial want with your mother?" He asked. It wasn't like she wanted a kid that emanates death, right?

"She needed her, to use me," Hazel said quietly, looking away from him and into the light-polluted sky.

"Why would she want a child of death?" Nico asked, thoroughly confused.

"Death? I am not a child of death?" Hazel asked, now also confused.

"Can you not raise the dead?"

"Like zombies?" She asked, looking slightly green.

"No, just raise skeletons and talk to ghosts. If you can't do that, what can you do?" He asked, interested. Hazel looked conflicted for a moment before sighing. He had a feeling she was about to tell him something that hadn't been a part of her earlier story.

"I can summon things of value. Like precious metals or stone. Though, whoever touches them besides me or my mother dies a painful death." She said sadly.

"Why?"

"When I was close to being born, Hades offered my mother a wish. She asked for all the riches under the Earth." Hazel explained.

"Foolish woman. A greedy wish comes with curses." He growled. Hazel continued as though he hadn't said anything.

"Pluto warned her that it might have horrible consequences, but she didn't care. I was born with the curse of being followed by cursed money. It pops up wherever I go. Just look there, another one." Hazel pointed at the ground behind him, there was a diamond ring sitting on the grass. He slowly stepped away from the trinket and allowed Hazel to pick it up. 

"Handy, if you want to kill someone greedy," Nico said humorlessly. Hazel nodded sadly.

"Yeah, but I don't." She whispered. There was an uncomfortable silence between them as Nico digested this new information. Where could he take her that she wouldn't endager anyone?

"I'll need to take you to Camp soon-- sometime this week at the latest. There they can help you learn how to defend yourself. You can learn to control your abilities." Nico suggested. Hazel nodded numbly. She was overwhelmed and her thoughts were a jumbled mess.

"Where will I stay beforehand?" Hazel asked. Nico already had someone in mind for that.

"Time for you to meet a slightly crazy... friend... of mine I guess. She acts more like a 'mother figure' really." He said grinning at how interesting this was going to be.

"Um, ok? Lead the way I guess." Nico reached out and grabbed her hand and in seconds we were a couple of blocks away from toxic acres. He had just pictured Ivy when he traveled so she should be around here somewhere. Hazel leaned against the wall to recover from the jump. He really should have warned her beforehand. They were standing in a dark, cold alley that had vines literally covering the walls. Ncio leaned over to the vines, hoping that this would work, he knew that plants talked to Ivy, but did they talk to each other?

He said to it, "Tell Ivy that Nico needs to ask her for a favor, please." he felt kind of stupid talking to a vine, especially when Hazel looked at me like he had lost his mind. However, in a few minutes, Poison Ivy herself rushed into the alley. Her hair was kind of frizzy and her dress looked a little ruffled. Nico walked out of the shadows so Ivy could see him. As soon as she had spotted him she was checking him over for injuries.

"Nico! Are you ok? I told you you could call me for help! Is that clown bothering you?" She mother henned.

"Yes, Ivy, I understand you care about me. I don't see why, but I know. I called you here because a friend of mine needs a place to lay low for a little while until I can move them. Will you help us?" He asked in a pleading voice. Ivy looked him over before glancing at Hazel, who had retreated from the shadows a little ways. She obviously didn't know what to make of his woman, but she didn't make it too obvious on her face. 

"Nico, are you in trouble? You are like one of my children, I wanna keep you safe." Nico silently thanked Persephone for turning hin into that dandelion all that time ago.

"I know, I promise I am not in any big trouble. Definitely not in trouble with the law. She just needs to hide from her parents until I can get her out of town." He explained with a little white lie.

"Ok, she can stay with me at toxic acres, if she wants. I have an inhaled antidote that you both need to take so that you can be there without dying slowly." 

"That would be nice. I would much prefer not dying." He said somewhat conversationally. Ivy continued as though he hadn't spoken,

"This one will allow you to come and go as you please. Come on now, before the bat comes to check on me." Ivy handed us two flowers, each held the antidote. All we had to do was allow the plant to attach to our faces for a couple of seconds and breathe in. It was a terrifying concept, but a necessary risk. Nico went first so that Hazel knew it was safe. Normally, he wouldn't have trusted Ivy, but she seemed to think of him as her kid. There was also the fact that she had no motive to hurt us yet even with the vines adorning the walls. Not to mention Nico felt sort of connected to her, it must have been his inner dandelion. Either way, he trusted her.

The antidote smelled like roses and he didn't die or pass out, so he assumed Ivy hadn't tricked them and they both followed her deep into toxic acres. He was definitely happy that He had taken the antidote. This place felt toxic just by the way the air settled on his skin. 

"This way, you two." Ivy beckoned us towards the least run-down condo. It was completely overgrown and there were no windows. All the windows had tree limbs sticking out of them, some of the limbs had mutated fruits on them. Hazel was watching him, looking nervous about being here. It must have been quite a shock seeing all the skyscrapers and cars and stuff. She wasn't too surprised by Ivy, having seen her own powers. Nico gave her a reassuring smile, which felt foreign on his face. Nico lead the way, following Ivy into her house that might as well have been a part of nature.

There were trees and flowers manifesting themselves on practically every level surface there was. Even on the chandeliers, which made the lights dance eerily on the walls. This was his kind of place. He wasn't so fond of the plant life but the place was dark and gloomy, reminding him of home. Though, the smell was certainly something he would have to get used to. It didn't smell bad, the scent was just a bit too strong for his taste. Too...earthy.

"Nico dear? That door straight down the hall is yours if you ever need it. The last door on the left, Hazel, is yours. If you need anything, just ask." Ivy pointed down the hall and Hazel hugged him-- catching him off guard. What was that for?

"Thank you again. Be safe, got it?" She said before turning and heading down the hall. I guess that was goodbye. It made sense that she would need some time to adjust, so Nico tried not to feel hurt. This was a lot to take in. He could giver her time. 

"Yes ma'am," He said sarcastically. Ivy poked him on the shoulder. When he looked at her, she curled her finger, beckoning him into her living room. Nico followed her curiously. She looked around him as if seeing if she was being watched before smiling at him with a slightly green-tinted smile. Nico thought her enamel was combined with chlorophyll. He didn't like the mischief in her smile.

"Sooooo," Ivy purred mischievously, "Who's the girl? A girlfriend, I hope?" She wiggled her eyebrows conspiratorially. Nico snorted in complete disbelief.

"No! No! Nothing like that! She's my... half-sister. I'm pretty sure that she would be my half-sister... either way, we're related." He replied.

"Awww, I like her. You could have been cute together. You will bring your... ah... significant other over when you get one?" She sounded like an actual mother now, excited about her child's life. Nico would have laughed had he not been blushing. He hadn't really had much time for a relationship recently. 

"Err, sure." He agreed. Ivy smiled and kissed him on the forehead. Nico stared at her for a couple of seconds, completely at a loss. He opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to find the words.

"I uh. I should get back to the manor." He said finally before turning and abruptly walking out of the house. When he was outside, he wiped his forehead clean of her green lipstick and he shadow traveled back to the manor. Nico landed in his bathroom, just as he had planned. He laid down in bed, wearing just PJ bottoms as Bruce came in to check on him. He pretended to be asleep until he left and soon after that, he actually fell asleep. He was too tired from all the shadow jumps in a row to even dream.


	14. Learning How To Family

Nico woke up the next morning to someone calling out to him. 

"Nico!" The voice was familiar and insistent. It came again, even louder this time,

"Nico!" He woke up with a start and automatically had his hand on his sword which was still in ring form. He looked around his room, desperately trying to find the source of the sound. His eyes landed on a glowing image out on the balcony. It was Percy. He had iris messaged Nico and was trying to wake hime up. Nico threw on his jacket and some shoes and headed out onto the balcony. 

"Percy," he yawned, "what do you want? It's really late, couldn't this wait?" he asked tiredly. Nico absentmindedly hoped that no one had heard this-- it would be too hard to explain. He doubted that the bats would let this one slide off as part of his oath. They were the suspicious type, and they wanted answers. He just wishedheI could give them those answers.

"Well, I just wanted to check-in. I know you are living with mortals, so I had to make sure you were alone." Percy said, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Fair enough." He didn't mention that he was surprised that Percy had thought of that-- the son of Poseidon always got offended that people underestimated him. Nico couldn't say he blamed him. Though, in their defense, he does some pretty bone-headed things sometimes. It especially didn't help with how much time he spent around Annabeth-- the girl could make Einstein look dumb. 

"How's it goin'? You left in a hurry yesterday and then I didn't hear back from you. I was starting to get a bit worried." Percy said, looking every bit as concerned as he sounded. Nico was sort of surprised to hear that the older boy had been worried. 

"Don't be. I can handle myself. What's going on at camp?" Nico asked to avoid the argument-- and because he was genuinely curious.

"I beat Clarisse on the climbing wall, and Athena's cabin won capture the flag. The Stolls painted the Ares cabin sort of pink and camo-y." Percy smirked at the thought. Nico couldn't help but chuckle at Clarisse's reaction to that. Though how they got past the landmines was beyond him.

"Serves them right. All's good here too. They suspect something is up, but I don't think that they are close to the truth yet." Nico decided to tell the truth-- Percy would know that he was lying if he had said everything was fine. They were demigods, and nothing was ever really okay. 

"Will you be allowed to tell them? Nico, this is your father we are talking about." Percy cautioned. He knew that HAdes didn't take kindly to people crossing him He was patient, for a god, but even he had his limits. 

"I know, Perce, I know. Father will let me explain it to them as long as they figure out my secret on their own. I just have to get them to swear that they won't reveal our race." The son of Hades explained.

"That's good at least. Do you think they can figure it out?" 

He thought about it for a minute, "Yeah, they're really smart people. Like, Annabeth level smart. Plus, I met Diana. Like the incarnation of Artemis, Diana."

"Diana? What was she doing there?" Percy asked incredulously. Before he I could answer, the image went away, and the mist spoke.

"Please insert another drachma for another five minutes." A pleasant voice requested. Nico plucked a coin from his nightstand and threw it in. When the image came back, he saw Percy frantically searching his cabin for a coin.

"Percy, I had one. Sit down." Percy stopped searching and returned to his place on the bed.

"So, about this Diana woman?" He continued.

"Relax, Percy, it was just one version of her. The Diana Prince version, Wonder Woman." He admonished. Nico doubted Percy had much idea of who Wonder Woman was, but to his surprise, Percy just nodded appreciatively. Then he remembered, Percy actually had an education. He probably learned about her at one of his many schools in history. 

"Oh, that makes more sense. Did she recognize you, do you think?" He asked.

"Yeah, we agreed to act like we had just met since it wasn't even that part of her that got her killed," He said-- still a little bitter.

"She won't sell you out, will she? Can she be trusted?"

"No, she's under oath too," Nico assured him, "She won't sell me out." He nodded, seeming relieved. There was a pause in the conversation and Nico's mind wandered. His thoughts slipped to Bianca and how she wasn't in the underworld anymore. She had to have chosen rebirth. 

"Nico? What is it?" Percy asked after a few moments. He hadn't realized that he had zoned out but there was no denying that he had. 

" I just... I couldn't find her Perce." Nico said, hoping he would get the idea. This was Percy, though-- he should have known that it wouldn't be that simple.

"Find who? Who were you looking for? "

"Bianca. I couldn't find her." He said, tears welling in his eyes. It hadn't been the plan to cry. He hoped that the lighting was bad enough that the larger boy couldn't tell, but he wasn't betting on it.

"Oh Nico, I'm sorry. Are you sure she's gone?" Percy knew how much it meant to him that he could always talk to her in the Underworld.

"Yes, she's gone. She didn't even say goodbye." he sniffled-- trying desperately not to cry in front of Percy.

"Wow. I will be over there in a jiffy." Percy said decisively. 

"What? Percy, you can't come here!?"

"And just why not? I am coming over to Wayne Manor tomorrow. I will bring my mom's cookies, back-up supplies and yell at you for leaving without saying goodbye. I'll just say I'm a friend from camp or something." Percy was picking up speed now.

"Hold on, Percy, you can't just pop up out of nowhere in Gotham city and appear at their house!" Nico exclaimed in alarm.

"No, I'll ride Blackjack. I'll just say that you forgot some things at camp and I offered to bring them to you. Then Mr. Brunner" Percy made air quotes, " will have told me where you were and it won't be weird."

"Oh, it will still be weird, but not nearly as suspicious." He allowed.

"Yeah, see? This could work. I'll only stay a couple of hours and then go back to camp." Percy said excitedly.

"But..." Ncio was about to protest that he really shouldn't come, but he was interrupted.

"See you soon, little cousin!" Percy promptly waved his hand through the mist and severed the connection. Nico grumbled to himself about being called the little cousin. He was several times his age-- he was not little. This was going to go over poorly with Bruce. Nico sighed and walked back inside to his bed. Nico was going to lay down, but he really didn't feel like falling asleep anymore. He wandered over to his desk, to where his drawings were, and he decided to draw Hazel. Nico drew her how he thought she might look in modern clothes. 

Nico drew her in sweatpants and a T-shirt, her knees pulled to her chest. He drew her face so that it was looking at something next to her since he wanted to capture her profile. Her hair was the tricky part, catching the correct curls and style. He drew himself sitting next to her, with his legs laying as though he were in a chair. It was several hours before he got it exactly how he wanted it. Nico pinned the picture to his board and looked at the clock on the wall. It was 5:30. He didn't see much point in falling asleep again so he left his room and headed through the house and out into the garden. The crickets were chirping, but they were the only sound besides his footsteps.

Nico headed to the grove of trees and he found himself drawn to an evergreen-- which he climbed. He sat in that tree for a long time, watching the sunrise. He hardly ever get to see something so beautiful. He let his mind wander to his new life. If someone had told him that he would be adopted by a billionaire, taken in by a female plant villain, introduced to the bat fam, and live in a city where monsters even avoid, he would have said they were crazy. Not to mention he brought a long-lost, Roman, sibling back to life. 

Nico watched the lights turn on one by one in the manor as the sun began to rise above the clouds. He knew he should be going back inside, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He was comfortable where he was in the tree. His mind drifted to thoughts about Percy. He was going to be here today. His mind sped through all possible outcomes for how this would work out. He regretted that he didn't stop him when Nico realized that most options lead to Percy destroying something or Bruce getting mad.

"Nico?" A voice called from the ground. He had been so caught up that he hadn't noticed Damian coming out from the manor.

"Coming," Nico called back, taking one last look at the fading sunrise.

++++

After breakfast, he had another 'lesson' with Damian, where he continued to read 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. He found the story entertaining enough, usually, to hold his attention-- and Damian was a great narrator. Nico had found it easy to listen to these readings before, but now he could not concentrate.

"Alright, spill." Damian said, slamming the book closed. He had finally gotten fed up with the older's fidgeting.

"What?"

"Your constant movement is highly distracting. Your concentration also seems to be directed elsewhere. I would like to know what has you so enamored." Damian crossed his arms, his eyebrows furrowed. The words so easily came from his mouth and Nico felt that they'd never sound right coming from his own mouth. 

"I don't know. I just miss my friend from camp." He decided that he might be able to convince Bruce to let him invite Percy. He might get an idea of how likely that was if he ran it by one of the boys first. They had lived with Bruce the longest. At least that would give him a plausible reason for Percy to appear on their doorstep.

" I'm certain my father would allow it. Unless..." Damian trailed off.

"Unless?"

"Does this friend of yours share your secret? Will he be able to guess our identities?" Damian seemed cold now. Nico knew he was still upset that he had figured them out but wouldn't tell them how. He looked away-- wishing again that he could reveal his secret. All this tension wasn't good for his nerves. 

"He knows my secret, yes. He can't tell you what it is either. Though, he would not be able to figure out your secret like I did. He does not have the means. " Nico admitted, giving them another little bit of a hint. The way that he learned their secret was something that only he could do. 

"I see. You should ask father." Damian stood and exited the library. It hurt that his family still didn't trust him, but he didn't have time to didn't dwell on it long-- he had an iris message to send. Nico IMed Percy and told him to belay coming over and told him his plan to ask Bruce if he could come. Percy agreed and said that he'd show up in the Gotham Cemetery by tomorrow night if Bruce said no. They were going to meet up one way or another, but they would rather have permission. Nico told him that he'd see him soon and cut off the message.

Nico would have gone and asked right then, but Bruce had a meeting this morning. He would have to wait until he got back to ask. In the meantime, the son of Hades decided to go and visit Hazel. He went up to his room and locked the door. He then went into his bathroom and locked that door as well. It would give him some time before anyone got suspicious. Nico shadow traveled a couple of blocks away from Ivy's place so he could walk the rest of the way. He couldn't risk letting Ivy see him use his powers. Toxic acres didn't look any less volatile in the daylight. Piles of glowing green goo leaked out of steel drums and into the gutter. Bright neon plants overcrowded the place, glowing with toxicity. The houses were mildewed and molded from the elements, and the roofs and porches were sagging. 

Tons of crows lined the roofs of the decrepit buildings. He didn't notice them at first because they were so quiet. He didn't know that birds could be that quiet. Nico also wasn't sure how they were surviving the toxicity but he didn't want to know either. Their eyes sparkled with intelligence that made his skin crawl. Some things were better-left unknown. 

He made his way through the toxic neighborhood to Ivy's house. When he got inside, he was greeted with an odd sight. Hazel was wearing jean shorts-- much shorter than what would have been deemed acceptable for her time. She did look a little uncomfortable, so he supposed Ivy had made her put them on. Momma Ivy indeed. Don't get me wrong, they weren't by any means provocative by today's standards, they reach halfway down her thighs and aren't extremely tight like the Aphrodite cabin wore them. She was also wearing an olive tank top that fit loosely and hung down quite a ways past her waist. She looked very nice, though nothing like she had when he found her.

She and Ivy were standing in what probably used to be the living room. There were shelves and tables all along the walls that were covered in plants and gardening tools. A huge vine had climbed up the walls and pushed through the ceiling. It had no doubt taken over the second floor by now. Nico wouldn't have been surprised if Ivy had told him that the vines were the only things keeping this place together. 

"Now, this one likes a lot of water, ok? Use this and make sure that the soil is nice and soaked... there you go!" Ivy cooed over Hazel's shoulder. She was apparently teaching her about her babies.

"Morning, Ivy," Nico called out, making his presence known. Ivy glanced up from her work and gave him a strange cat-like grin. Nico smiled back-- it felt foreign on his face but Ivy didn't seem to notice. Hazel also looked over at him and gave him a wide smile.

"Nico! What are you doing here?" Hazel called in a not-unkind way. She didn't turn her attention away from the plants for more than a second, though. She seemed to be treating them as though they would be set off by the slightest error. With Ivy's plants, you never knew.

"I came to check up on you. Ivy, do you mind if I borrow Hazel for a little bit?" Nico had planned on asking her if she had any idea if there was a camp for Romans. There probably was, but he didn't really know how to go about finding it. 

"Not, not at all. Though Nico, eat some more vegetables-- your complexion needs it." He dragged Hazel off to the rooms Ivy had given them. They went into Hazel's room since it was brighter. Poison ivy had grown up over his curtains, effectively sealing them shut. 

"What is it, Nico?" Hazel asked once we were in her room. Nico glanced out of one of the windows as he was closing the door behind him. He could see the crows from where he stood. All thoughts about the Roman camps left his mind for a few moments. 

"That sure is a lot of crows," he commented. Nico didn't think much of it, but Hazel froze. She turned to see what the other demigod was talking about and-- though he couldn't actually see her face-- Nico could tell that she had paled. 

"Have they said anything?" She asked softly. Nico frowned-- crows don't talk. 

"Said anything? They're crows. They don't talk." He approached her cautiously-- trying to get a glimpse at her face. 

"Mine do." She muttered it so softly that he wasn't even sure that she had spoken. When he came up beside her he could see just how bad the birds had shaken her. She looked almost as pale as she had as a ghost. Her eyes were glassy and unfocused. Then all of a sudden she wasn't there anymore. Her face went slack and her eyes closed. Her breathing evened out. It was almost as if she had gone into a trance state. Nico kind of freaked out-- though he'd deny it if you asked him now. 

"Hazel? Hazel talk to me!" He grabbed her shoulders but she didn't make any indication that she had heard him. Was she having a seizure? Nico couldn't sense that she was in mortal danger, so she wasn't dying, but that only made him feel a little better. What was he supposed to do in this situation? How could he help? Was it something that he did? Was this a mortal or a mythological problem? Can he take someone who technically doesn't exist into the hospital? He could pray to Hades, but then the god would know what his son had done and he might have to take Hazel back. He couldn't risk it. 

After a few tense moments of Nico just clutching her shoulders and muttering her name-- she came back around. As soon as she glimpsed his face the tears started to fall. The son of Hades was shocked to say the least. 

"Hazel? Are you ok? Can you talk to me?" Hazel nodded. She was shaking pretty badly. Nico grabbed a blanket off the bed and wrapped it around her shoulders before kneeling in front of her so that he could see up into her face. She pulled it tightly around herself and buried her face in it for a few moments. 

"Sorry I just... had a vision I guess. I guess the crows triggered it." She wiped her eyes with the blanket and took a shaky breath.

"What kind of visions? Like a flashback?" He didn't like the sound of that. If things like this happened in battle, she could die. 

"Yeah. It was a vision from my past. My last day-- my last night." Those words seemed to have a special meaning but he didn't pick up on it. Nico was curious, of course, but he didn't press her for answers. She seemed pretty shaken up already and he didn't want to cause any more damage. 

"What did you see? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but you can talk to me." He offered. He didn't want to push her, but he wanted her to know that he cared and that she could come to him with these things. 

"It was the night I died. The night that the crow made me a promise." She started. Hazel explained everything to him -- everything that had happened from the night Pluto gave her a birthday present to the night where she sank Alcyoneus back into the pit. She told him about her mother and her deal with Gaea-- the voices and the possessions. She told him about the island that didn't exist and the boat that would take her there without a sailor or a map to guide it. She told him about the pit and the gems she was forced to create for the giant. She told him about the time where Gaea had taken her mother to the island and held her hostage there. She told him about the final ride and the crown that had landed on her stern. Hazel told him about how she took his words as a promise and that gave her the strength to make that night the last night that she let Gaea use her. Then she told him about how she ended it all. 

"All that and you ended up in asphodel?" Nico said once she had finished. Hazel shrugged non-committaly. 

"I made a deal. My mother didn't deserve eternal damnation and I didn't deserve elysium. I made a deal that we would both go to asphodel. It was the best I could manage." 

"I'm not sure I would have done that," Nico admitted. Hazel eyed him for a few moments, calculating her answer.

"You saved me-- though you knew you weren't supposed to. I think you need to give yourself more credit." Nico considered this. While he appreciated the sentiment, he was also very sure that he wouldn't have done the same. Not for Marie Levesque-- but maybe he would have for Maria di Angelo. 

"Maybe," he conceded, " I hope I'll never have to find out." We talked for a little while longer about our mothers before he felt like he had been gone too long. They never did get back to talking about the Roman camp. 

Once Nico knew that Hazel was ok, he said his goodbyes to Ivy and headed out of the house. When he was far enough away, he shadow traveled to his bathroom. An hour had passed from when he had left. Nico unlocked his bathroom door and settled down at his writing desk. He felt inspired to draw. He decided to draw a portrait of Pamela.

Nico started with her torso, just the portion that was in the leotard. Once he was satisfied with that, he moved on to her legs. Her boots were hard to get just right because he wanted them to be symmetrical to each other. He wasn't sure how long he was at it, but it felt like too long. When Nico finally got them the way he wanted them, he moved on to her shoulders and neck. He almost gave up when he couldn't get her neck to be proportional to the rest of her body. What felt like an eternity later, he finally got the neck to be the way he wanted it. Her head wasn't all that hard. Nico just used one of her mug shots from a newspaper clipping as a reference. Her hair was only slightly more complicated and he finally finished it and put it on his wall. He had just finished putting up the picture when someone knocked on his door. Nico pinned the picture on his wall and hurried to open the door.

"Yes?" he asked, poking my head out into the hall. Bruce was standing there in his business suit.

"Damian said you wanted to ask me something?" Bruce raised his eyebrows. The demigod frowned, he thought Damian was against the idea. He definitely wouldn't have guessed that the younger boy would have gone out of his way to mention it to Bruce for him. 

"Yeah, I wanted to know If a friend of mine from camp could come over," Nico admitted, opening the door wider, seeing this wasn't going to be a simple 2-minute check-in.

"Well, I don't see why not. Does he have means to get here on his own?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah. It's just, I haven't seen him in a while." He explained. Bruce's features softened.

"Is he like you?" Bruce asked. Nico frowned-- had he figured out the secret already?

"Like me, how?" He narrowed his eyes.

"Well, Is he under the same oath? Will he be able to figure out our secrets?" Bruce parroted the same questions Damian had asked. At times like these, it wasn't hard to see that Damian was his biological son.

"He does know about my oath, but no, he will not be able to guess your secret," Nico replied. Bruce eyed for him a moment and Nico got the distinct impression that Bruce was trying to decide whether or not he could take him at his word. It hurt, but Nico understood it. He hadn't given him much reason to trust him. The billionaire was right to be cautious. 

"Very well, I will call Mr. Brunner tonight and see what can be arranged." He gave me a small smile, and Nico returned it, "Dinner will be ready soon, I imagine." Bruce announced before swiftly leaving the room. Nico went into the bathroom to get water for an iris message. He had to tell Percy the good news.


	15. Nothing is Ever Simple With You

True to his word, Bruce called Chiron later that night and arranged for Percy to come over for the weekend. Nico didn't know how Chiron made that seem like a normal affair but he wasn't about to question it. When you've been alone for three thousand years, you probably pick up a trick or two. Chiron said that he would be there sometime around noon the next day. Nico found himself giving his brothers a shortened version of who Percy was and explained to them that the manhunts were all false alarms and such. It took, some doing and he wasn't sure that they completely bought it, but they drop it. 

The bat boys actually seemed interested in the son of Poseidon-- which surprised Nico. Richard seemed excited to meet Percy, Tim looked a little suspicious, and Jason and Damian really didn't care. The group sat together in the living room and watched a horror movie marathon after dinner, and ate junk foods. Well, the other boys were watching the movie. Nico kept zoning out thinking about what would happen if monsters attacked the manor. They were two powerful demigods, after all. That was bound to attract some attention. 

While he wasn't really paying attention to the movies, he was partaking in the snacks. Soda was new to him and he really enjoyed it. The more sugar-- the better. Bruce had warned him that caffeine tended to make people with ADHD tired so he had one that didn't have caffeine in it to be safe. He had to be awake for when Percy got there. He wasn't the only one whose sodas were restricted. For some reason, all sodas and sugary drinks were strictly prohibited if your name was Richard Grayson. No one would let him have any sugar whatsoever, and no one would tell Nico why.

By the middle of the third movie, Dick and Damian were curled up tightly in their blankets. Tim had left early, and even Jason was clutching a pillow. Nico had gotten restless and was sitting upside down on the couch with his feet hanging over the back of the sofa. He wished they had chosen a different genre. Horror movies weren't really all that thrilling when you knew how unrealistic they truly were. In fact, it made the whole experience annoying for him and he was having trouble keeping himself occupied. It wasn't even scary. 

Mrs. O' Leary was scarier than any of the jump-scares. Luke had been scarier than any of these possessions. Minos had been worse than any of these ghosts. The zombies that protected Hades palace were scarier than the ones in the movies. The grim reaper was a friend of his and was as pretty as cupid and fair in his dealings. Someone being disemboweled was nothing he hadn't seen either in the war or in the fields of punishment. Cheap scares on a screen just didn't do it for him anymore. 

Nico watched, unconcerned, as the protagonist stepped into the room without turning on the lights. The malignant spirit's theme song started playing in the background. Nico sighed inwardly-- why did no one in these stories grab a knife or a weapon of some kind or at least turn on the lights first, though he guessed it wouldn't really help against a poltergeist or ghost. These idiots deserved to die. If he or Percy made these kinds of mistakes, they would undoubtedly have been dead years ago.

As it approached the end of the movie, the protagonist had finally done something right and completed the exorcism of her little brother. Nico rolled his eyes-- it wasn't scary to me. Hades' anger scared him. Percy, when he was the eye of a hurricane, scared him. Annabeth, in general, scared him. Spirits, ghouls, and ghosts don't scare him anymore. It seemed to have some sway over the bat family, though. Nico doubted that they were very scared but it had definitely had an effect if their positions on the couches had anything to say about it. 

"Whooo! Glad that's over. Scared Jay?" Dick stood and stretched, having a good time teasing Jason lightly. Jason had a blanket around his shoulders.

"No!" Jason cried indignantly, his chin jutting out like a child's. He crossed his arms and stuck out his tongue. Then, to be extra childish, he threw his pillow with accuracy that only a bat can achieve in Dick's face.

"That was sufficient, " Damian admitted.

"I wasn't really scared," Nico admitted-- twisting his skull ring.

"Probably because you weren't even watching" Dick looked at him knowingly. Nico frowned-- he had been watching. Mostly. 

"Wwat do you mean?"

"Do you couldn't stop moving the whole time. It was obvious that you weren't paying attention," Jason elucidated. Nico blinked a few times. He hadn't realized that he had been moving enough to even catch their attention, much less annoy them.

"Sorry." He apologized uncomfortably. Dick shrugged easily. 

"If you aren't into it, then you aren't into it. Don't worry about it. Next time you can pick the genre." Nico gave Dick a soft smile and nodded. That sounded nice. 

"What are you planning on doing when Percy gets here?" Dick asked, changing the subject. Nico shrugged he hadn't put much thought into it. He had a feeling that there was going to be a lot that they needed to talk about-- though the bat boys didn't need to know about that. 

"I don't know. We'll probably talk and I might show him the grounds or something." Nico replied. Dick nodded but I had a feeling that he was just accepting that answer so that he could ask something else. 

"Is he dangerous? I know that all the manhunts were called off-- but still. He has caused a lot of trouble for one teen." Dick asked cautiously, obviously trying not to provoke the younger boy. They didn't want to know what Nico looked like when he was mad. If even Wonder Woman was trying to stay on his good side, then they probably should too. 

"Only to people who threaten him or the people he cares about. He is the most loyal and selfless person I know. Also, he doesn't eat seafood." He mentioned off-handedly. It popped into his brain and out of his mouth before he could even process it. 

"Err... ok?" Richard replied in an unsure tone.

"How long have you known him?" Tim questioned.

"Since I was twelve. I met him around the same time I met Diana." He replied-- leaving out the part about it being the exact same time and place.

"How did you meet Diana?" Jason broke his silence. He had been perching on a recliner, cleaning one of his knives. Now that he officially knew the secret, they had lost all secrecy about their abilities and training. It was amazing to see what these mortals were capable of.

"Let's just say that I was in a tight spot, and she got me out. Then she inadvertently got... a friend killed. I've been known to hold grudges." Nico gritted his teeth to leave it at that. He was itching to tell them how mad he still was, but he knew that it wouldn't make sense for him to be mad at Wonder Woman. 

"Was this friend someone special to you?" Damian inquired. Dumb question-- of course they were. Nico didn't have many friends in the first place, after all. 

"Skip."

"Ok, bedtime, guys, we have to get up for patrol in a couple of hours since we can't do it while Percy is here." Dick reminded everyone yawning again so that the words sounded a little garbled.

"Yes, mother!" Jason teased, his eyes twinkled with mischief. Nico headed off through the halls without bothering to find the light switches. He didn't need them anyway. Once he was a couple of feet down the hall, he shadow traveled to his room, changed into some comfortable PJs, and crashed on his bed. Nico had no idea that Dick had turned on the lights only moments after his jump. There was no way he should have been able to get through the hall before Dick had turned on the lights. That was when his secret finally started to unravel before them.

++Dick++

"Nico?" I called into the somehow empty hallway. Jason and Tim stopped arguing over who had to put the dishes away.

"Dick, what is it?" Damian asked, trying to mask his confusion with his uncaring tone. He couldn't stand sounding even slightly emotional or human.

"I don't believe it. He isn't in the hallway. He had just started walking down it. It couldn't have been 5 seconds between when he went into this hallway and when I turned on the lights, and he was already gone."

"That's impossible. Unless he has some form of teleportation or super speed?" Jason reasoned calmly, coming to stand by me in the doorway. 

"Not super speed." Tim interjected, "he doesn't have the appetite." I nodded. Nico hardly ate enough to satisfy a normal person, much less a speedster with a high metabolism. We needed to keep an eye on that-- it was starting to get concerning.

"Ok, then he must have a form of teleportation. He has powers, then. That may have been the key to figuring out his big secret." I couldn't help but be suspicious that Nico was trying to mislead us.

"Doesn't this seem too easy to you?" The demon spoke up. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who thought this might be an attempt to distract us from the truth. He obviously couldn't fake teleportation, but who was to say that he was telling the truth about the rest of the hints he gave us?

"Well, Nico did seem to wish that he could tell us himself. Maybe he is purposely dropping hints for us to figure it out." Tim suggested, hopefully.

"Perhaps, just keep an eye out for strange behaviors. Watch this Percy kid too. He was the boy Nico said, almost slit his throat." I warned before heading off to bed myself. I had some time before patrol so I decided to look through the list of every known metahuman on the bat computer. There were quite a few in our system, and I was sure that there were several more that we didn't even know about yet. Most of the ones that we knew about had only been documented because they had been arrested. 

I looked through the list and found several with abilities that could mimic teleportation but none of them made sense for what I knew about Nico. He obviously wasn't a speedster. There hadn't been any lights or sounds that I had been able to distinguish either so it probably wasn't wormholes or portals. This also ruled out light and sound travel. He didn't have any of the indicators of being a metahuman such as mutations of the body or accidental power discharge that seemed to be common among metas who were just learning how to use or control their powers. Nothing really fit. What was he missing?

Was he not a meta at all? Was Dick looking in the wrong place? Of course, there were several different ways that he had seen people come across amazing powers and abilities. There were aliens, magicians, Atlanteans, science experiments gone wrong, genetic mutations, and technological advancements that were so advanced that they looked like magic to the untrained eye. There was even a half-devil on the Teen Titans team. Virtually nothing was off the table. Was Nico even human? He seemed very human to me. Just like a very troubled boy-- nothing like the stories Damian told about Raven.

What are you hiding, little bro? A short while later, and no closer to the truth, I changed into my Nightwing suit and checked all my gear and coms. Everything was good to go.

++Percy++

For Percy, not everything was good to go. Blackjack wanted donuts upfront for flying into Gotham, and Percy didn't have any. So, he decided to take Mrs. O' Leary instead. Greedy pegasus. The son of Poseidon came out of a Shadow in an alley, feeling the sickness he always felt after a shadow jump. Nico had mentioned that monsters couldn't go into Gotham, but Percy hadn't realized that that applied to Mrs. O' Leary as well. Even though she was domesticated, Mrs. O' Leary still counted as a monster.

Percy dismounted, grabbing his backpack and slipping on his dark blue hoodie. It was at least ten degrees cooler in Gotham than it was in Manhattan. He sent Mrs. O' Leary back to camp, resolving to travel the rest of the way on foot. He wore jeans, a pair of converse with Dr. Schols innersoles for added comfort when running from monsters. He also wore his camp shirt and his dark blue hoodie. His camp necklace was always there, and he never lost Riptide.

He had packed ambrosia and nectar, overnight clothes, a packet of drachmas, and some of Nico's only belongings from camp in his backpack. He had very little mortal currency on him, and, by Nico's insistence, he carried a steel knife that would work on mortals. It didn't bode well for the demigod that he had to protect himself against mortals here. Suddenly it was a whole lot harder to figure out who was going to try to kill you. 

Percy walked the short distance across the city limits into Gotham. Nico was still halfway across the city from him, and it would be a long walk. Still, they weren't expecting him until that night anyway. He would have taken the car, but Paul still didn't let him drive it after the pegasus incident. He passed the time playing the game that he and his mom always played on the way to Montauk. You would try to complete the alphabet by finding the letters on signs and things you passed as you drove. He had liked to joke that his dyslexia meant that he was always on hard mode. 

He completed the alphabet three times over before it got boring. It was about that time that Percy wished he had taken the car. Percy stopped in the entrance of a nearby alley to sit for a minute and drink some of the water he brought. After a lot more walking, Percy spotted the cemetery. It was the type of place only Nico could appreciate. The son of Poseidon found it ironic that Nico would give him a landmark like this but he wasn't going to mention it to him. he didn't know how the younger boy would take it. 

It was about 4 O'clock by his watch, and he decided to head for Wayne manor. Time to meet the mortals who managed to pin Nico down for a little while-- a feat no other people alive had ever really been able to do. 

++Nico++

The doorbell chimed right around 4:15, and Alfred got to the door and led an astonished-looking Percy into the house. He led him into the living room where the rest of us sat.

"Hey, Nico! This place is incredible!" Percy said as soon as he saw the son of Hades.

"I know! Err, Percy meets Bruce Wayne, Richard Grayson ("call me Dick"), Jason Todd, and Damian Wayne. You already met Alfred Pennyworth." Nico gestured to everyone in turn. It was interesting to see the bat boys sizing up Percy while Percy sized up the bat boys.

"Hey, I'm Percy Jackson. I go to summer camp with Nico. Speaking of which. How could you leave without saying goodbye?! Dude, we almost sent Thalia out looking for you!" Percy directed at Nico-- who winced.

"You didn't? Right?" He asked hopefully. Percy shook his head. The smaller boy sighed in relief.

"Who is this, Thalia?" Damian asked suspiciously.

"Another one of our friends from camp. She has a short temper and is really overprotective." Nico explained. Percy nodded in agreement.

"Well, welcome to the manor Percy. Nico, dinner will be at 5:00. Don't worry Percy, Nico told us about your dislike of seafood. I believe pasta is on the menu for tonight?" Bruce looked at Alfred for confirmation.

"Yes, Master Bruce."

Nico led Percy up the stairs to his bedroom-- an air mattress has been set out since his bed is a little too small for two boys. He stashed the godly foods and the extra drachmas that Percy had brought in his secret compartment, and Percy brought him up to speed about the latest goings-on at camp. There wasn't all that much going on. Just the usual drama between the cabins and such. A few new campers had been brought in-- all children of minor gods like Hebe or Iris. there hadn't been as many claimings recently. Whether that was because the gods had slowed down or because they were going back on their oaths, it was hard to say. Percy seemed disturbed by it.

"I thought this oath would last a century at least before they broke it," Percy complained. This oath meant a lot to him-- to the demigods at camp. There were so many full-timers at camp that wouldn't have had anywhere else to go if it hadn't been for camp. He had saved lives with his wish. Nico could definitely understand why he was upset. 

"I don't know, Percy. It doesn't make sense that they would have just stopped all of a sudden. There has to be something else going on." Nico insisted. Percy nodded but he didn't seem convinced. Nico wished that he had the confidence to reassure the older boy but he couldn't. Conversation moved onto other things like capture the flag and before they knew it, it was just about time for dinner, so they began to head down. Nico briefly showed him where the other boy's rooms were before they got downstairs. 

When they got to the dining room, there was an extra place set next to Nico's at the table, and they took their places with the rest of the boys being close behind. Dinner went rather uneventfully, except for the fact that the bat fam insisted on asking Percy all sorts of questions. Percy seemed uncomfortable with all the attention on him, but there wasn't much that Nico could do to help. The Waynes were curious and persistent. 

"So, Percy, what do you like to do at camp. Nico hasn't told us much about it." Bruce asked from his place at the head of the table. Nico picked at his food and tried to seem busy. He prayed that Percy wouldn't say anything too revealing. That wouldn't end well.

"Uhh... I like capture the flag mostly-- or horseback riding." Percy replied with a hint of secret humor in his voice. Nico smirked.

"Oh yes, Percy is quite gifted with horses." He chuckled lightly. Percy scratched the back of his neck, thinking back to Blackjack, no doubt.

"Isn't the game where that kid stabbed you with a pocket knife?" Tim directed at Nico.

"Hmm? Capture the flag? Yes, still a fun game, though." Nico speculated. Percy nodded in agreement.

"Also, what about where Percy almost killed you?" Damian questioned. Percy's eyes widened and his gaze shot to Nico. 

"You told them about that? Great, they probably think I'm crazy now." 

"Don't worry about it; I told them you didn't mean to. It wasn't your fault I snuck up on you." Nico explained, letting Percy know he had altered the truth.

"I know, but still..." Percy grimaced, going along with the made-up story, "it was bad." The conversation lulled as the bats digested this new information. Finally, Bruce spoke again,

"You say you're good with horses?"

"I'm pretty good, I guess," Percy admitted with a noncommittal shrug.

"He's being modest." Nico cut in, "He's one of the best in camp. The horses seem to like him."

"And they don't like you?" Jason asked sarcastically.

"Not really, no." he admitted, "Though I'm not really too fond of them either." Dinner finished up not too long afterward and they were dismissed. Dick invited us to watch some more scary movies again and the two demigods agreed and joined the rest of the boys in the living room. Nico was just curious to see how Percy would react. He had seen some horrible things too-- was he desensitized like Nico was? 

Percy was a bit creeped out by the possessions, probably remembering Luke, but he wasn't all that scared like the mortals were. The pair exchanged hushed commentary throughout the duration of the movie. Percy mainly kept asking the son of Hades whether things in the movie were possible or not and he explained death concepts to him. In the end, he and Percy were laughing at the stupidity of some of the characters.

"I know! She should have totally died in that accident. Airbags are good, but not that good." Nico agreed to something Percy had said.

"Yeah, and that falls into the creek? They should have at least broken something." Percy pointed out.

"Imagine if Annabeth was here. She'd probably gawk over the bridge." Nico mused.

"Or explain the mathematics behind the stunts and such." Percy looked thoughtful.

"Whose, Annabeth?"


	16. Chapter 16

"Whose, Annabeth?" Dick asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Percy's better half." Nico teased. Percy blushed but didn't deny it-- he knew better.

"She's my girlfriend. She's pretty much a genius." Percy scratched the back of his neck. Nico nodded in agreement.

"Really? What's her favorite subject?" Dick asked-- interested. He was a people- person. He liked socializing, meeting new people, and listening to people talk about things they were passionate about. Sometimes his energy really impressed Nico-- who would just as soon fight a hellhound as attend a gala. 

"I don't know, Architecture? Why?" Percy frowned. He was caught off guard by Dick’s interest in his girlfriend. It was a good thing that Percy wasn’t the jealous type, or the question could have been bad. Dick had no intention of dating Annabeth, either. As far as I knew, he was too married to his work to put any serious time or effort into a partner. He was no threat to Percy's relationship status.

"Richard here is a math genius himself." Jason came up behind him and ruffled his hair. Dick protested and swatted his hands away.

"Really? I like PE myself." Percy joked good-naturedly. Nico didn't respond because he couldn't remember taking classes before the military academy, and his first semester there was abruptly cut short. Since then, getting a formal education had seemed unnecessary. He could get all the practical knowledge that he needed from Camp or from the Underworld and he doubted that he would be able to live among normal people being a son of Hades. Mosters would follow him no matter where he went. Why did he need a GED?

"What about you, Nico?" Tim asked. Nico cursed internally.

"What? What is my favorite subject?" He clarified-- partially to buy time and partially because he wasn't sure that they were still on the same subject. Tim nodded in affirmation.

"Well, none of them were enjoyable for me." He shrugged, "Even PE sucked at the military academy." Jason chuckled,

"I bet." Before they could talk anymore, Alfred came in.

"I think it is high time the young masters retire to bed." The group of boys all consented, though reluctantly, and left for their respective rooms. So far, so good. Nothing bad had happened and they were halfway through Percy's visit. 

The demigods didn't immediately go to sleep when they had gotten ready for bed. They started off talking about the Waynes and what it had been like for Nico to live there but then, the conversation turned to the prank war.

"You set the centaur mosquito killer loose?" Percy laughed hysterically. His laughter was contagious, and Nico found himself laughing too. It was pretty funny when he thought about it. 

"Yeah! You should have seen their faces! Man! It was great!" He said, remembering Damian's face, "It was right after Damian spilled to the other boys that I couldn't read," Nico admitted. He described the conversation before the prank and the big apology the next morning.

"So he's reading to you?" Percy asked, surprised.

"I know, right?" Nico chuckled with a nod. Percy shook his head in disbelief. It was soon after that that they started to get tired and finally laid down for bed. It was at this time that Percy noticed the younger's bulletin board with his drawings pinned to it.

"Nico?" came his questioning voice.

"Yeah?" He said as he settled on his bed.

"Did you do these pictures?" Nico looked to see what Percy was pointing at though-- he had a pretty good idea already.

"Yeah," the son of Hades responded shortly, watching the other boy intently for his reaction.

"Since when could you draw?"

"A couple of days ago, though I seemed to know what to do, so... maybe I did it before... you know," Nico admitted.

"Before your father had your memories erased?"

"Yeah."

"Oh... I'm sorry." Percy must have heard the discomfort in Nico's voice.

"Don't worry about it-- you're fine." They both silently went to bed after that, neither one of them knowing what to say to make it better. There really wasn't a way to make it better. Though what happened had happened and there was nothing that either of them could do about it now. Nico fell into a dreamless sleep-- something that surprised him. 

He would have thought that the fact that the visit going smoothly was the calm before the storm. He was right, but not in the way that he was expecting. The next morning he was woken up by someone putting their hand roughly over his mouth. Nico startled awake, reaching to push the hand away before seeing Percy hovering above him. His expression looked grim, and he gave Nico the universal 'shh' signal. When he was sure that the younger demigod wouldn't speak, he took his hand away. 

"What's going on?" Nico whispered. Percy shrugged and carefully pulled him out of bed. The son of Hades allowed Percy to silently lead him to the window. He pointed down towards the street, and Nico saw a bunch of thugs with clown make-up on outside the house-- spread across the lawn. He hadn't been planning on making a news appearance this morning and he wasn't looking forward to it. 

"They're in the house!" Percy murmered. Nico grimaced-- If there wasn't fighting or shouting, then the Wayne's must be detained and the Joker giving his evil monologue. Or maybe they weren't even awake yet. Nico dismissed that theory-- Bruce always got up super early. He just have already been captured. Too bad he could be Batman all the time. If Bruce and the others had been captured, then he had to either hide (which wouldn't help the Wayne's) or find a way to contact Batman's friends for help. Bruce couldn't fight the Joker without drawing suspicion, and it was impossible to be two places at once, so that left mehim with the need to call for help. He needed Wonder Woman. 

Nico didn't know If he could shadow travel to the Bat Cave, having never seen it before, so he didn't want to try and bring Percy. Plus, he didn't think Bruce would appreciate it if he revealed his identity. Since Nico wasn't taking Percy, he needed to find him a place to lay low from the goons. The son of Hades eventually settled on hiding him behind the secret panel where even Nightwing couldn't find him. He'd probably be safe there. After Nico was sure that his cousin was safe, he focused hard on the Bat Cave and just prayed that he would land in the same place. He stepped into the Shadows and felt the familiar sensations of weightlessness and the piercing cold.

Nico stepped out of the shadows and nearly cried-- he had made it! The fates don't completely hate him after all! Nico ran through the cave-- trying to find some sort of computer. Luckily, it was huge and hard to miss. Now he just had to figure out how to work it. Nico hit a random button, and it turned on. A disembodied voice asked him for his name, so he told it. This technology was so much more advanced than he had expected. This must be cutting edge because he hadn't seen anything like it before-- though he supposed that didn't mean too much. 

"Recognized, Nico Di Angelo. Please state your problem." The female voice requested. The screen stayed black but there was a audio wave that moved with the computer's voice. Apparently this was the only interface He was allowed to access. That was probably for the best because He had no idea what he was doing with this century's tech. He might set off a bike or something on accident while he was trying to find a call button. Could you even make calls on a computer? 

"Uhhhhhh what?" Apparently, the computer recognized my confusion (which I found highly disturbing) because it clarified.

"What do you need?" 

"Oh, contact Diana Prince, tell her it's urgent." he requested, "And that she needs to be alone." he added it as an afterthought. he hoped that the computer's recognized the command, otherwise he might just expose Bruce's identity to the world. It wouldn't take much more than a simple Google search to find out who he was and even a child could piece the puzzle together from there. Nico waited several minutes until the screen lit up and Diana Prince's welcome face appeared.

"Nico? What's going on?" Diana inquired. She knew it had to be serious if Nico was in the Bat Cave-- as she was sure that Bruce never would have allowed that this soon after his adoption. Nico explained everything to her, and when he was finished, she was nodding thoughtfully.

"You were right to contact me. I will be there momentarily." She winked conspiratorially. With that, Nico tried to find the exit because he was feeling pretty dizzy after shadow traveling with no food and high stress. Now that he thought about it, he could have just Iris messaged Diana instead, but he guessed that he at least wouldn't be found here. Plus there was also the possibility that the thugs were still searching the house. They might have heard him talking to her and found him. This was probably his best option. 

Nico walked around the entire place looking for the exit and started to panic when he couldn't find it. He would have though that there would have been something to indicate an exit of some kind. Did Bruce really have to be this mysterious all the time? What was the point? Nico sat in the chair in front of the Bat Computer-- trying not to pass out. He really should have eaten something first. Or maybe there was something about the cave itself that made it hard to shadow travel into. Either way, it took a lot more power and energy out of him than it should have. 

"Nico?" A concerned voice called out. He looked up and sighed in relief to see Bruce alive and Diana smiling kindly.

"Oh, thank the gods!" Nico stood up shakily. Did he have low blood sugar? Could his powers cause that? Whatever the case he was trembling. 

"What? You didn't think Diana would save us?" Bruce raised an eyebrow at him.

"No, It's not that. I just couldn't find my way out. I thought I was trapped." Bruce put his hand on his shoulder reassuringly. Just as he did, the floor seemed to tilt, and the demigod's stomach lurched.

"Speaking of which, how did you find your way in?" The floor was still tilted, and his brain was sending danger signals to his stomach. The world got a little fuzzy, and the floor rushed at his face. It wasn't until later that he was told that he had fainted. Highly embarrassing if he did say so himself. When he woke up, he was lying on a cold metal table, and there were distant voices. His head ached, and he was exhausted-- more so than he should be if the Bat Cave were still in Gotham. It took him a moment to realize that his jacket was missing and with it his only accessible weapons, cash, and the last remnant of what he had of Bianca.

Nico couldn’t comprehend where he was. Questions without obvious answers flooded through his head. Where am I? Where is Percy? Is he ok? Where were Diana and Bruce? Was I in trouble for coming down in the cave? Nico closed his eyes and tried to keep his heart rate down. It wouldn't help if he panicked now. Unfortunately, the heart monitor he was hooked up to shrieked with his increasing heart rate, alerting the possible captors of his awakening. Nico was too frightened to think logically, or he would have known that he had passed out in the bat cave and was probably safe.

I heard people getting closer, and I decided I didn't want to stay until they got here. He sat up and started pulling wires off. Nico could hear the footsteps were closer now, they were running, probably to make sure that he stayed there. He pulled out the IV and slid his legs over the side of the table. He had to get out of there before they reached him and put him back out. His stomach did backflips as he pulled himself into standing position. 

"Nico, calm down! You're going to hurt yourself." A voice said from his right. He was too late-- they had arrived. Suddenly there were people at his side. He glanced up into their faces and was relieved to see that it was only Diana and Bruce. He was still at the cave. Bruce lifted him by his biceps and sat him back on the table like he weighed next to nothing. Nico didn't resist now that he knew who it was. 

"Are you ok?" Bruce asked hesitantly, probably knowing how silly that question was. Diana handed him his jacket and he took it gratefully.

"Where's Percy?" He ignored the older man's question. He pulled his jacket back on and pulled it tightly around him, comforted by its familiarity. He patted the pockets almost unconsciously. Everything was still there. 

"He's upstairs. He wouldn't leave until he saw you were ok. Loyal, that one." Bruce nodded approvingly. Nico nodded with a small smile-- the panic was just starting to wear off.

"That's what he's known for." 

"You had really low blood sugar when we found you. You passed out and almost hit your head on the floor on your way down. I'll check your vitals and if they all check out we can go back upstairs, ok?" Bruce asked, already pulling out the equiptment. Nico nodded and allowed Bruce to check him over. A short while later, Bruce led him out and into the study. Diana brought up the rear. He tried not to look surprised, but Bruce wasn't watching him-- luckily. He led the demigod through the house and into the living room. Percy's eyes landed on him, and he jumped up. Everyone else stood as well. They were watching them with interest.

"Dude! You disappeared for like, an hour! You ok?" Percy looked calm on the outside, but his eyes were a raging storm. The bat family must've noticed it, too, for they were giving him a wide berth. It was a good idea to give the enraged son of Poseidon as much space as they could right now. He wasn't sure why he was this angry. He hadn't really been gone all that long, had he? Had the bat family tried to convince him to leave before seeing him? 

"Yeah, I'm good," Nico replied. Diana settled lightly on a couch near him. It was comforting that she was sticking around-- he needed an ally who understood what was going on with him right now. 

"Thank God. Dude, I fell asleep hiding and had a bizarre dream. They just found me a little bit ago." Percy's eyes grew dark, and Nico could feel his anger. He probably dreamt about the younger boy on the hospital bed and assumed the worst. Typical. It would certainly explain why the older boy wouldn't leave until he saw him. Hopefully he would get the chance to explain it all to him later. He didn't want the older boy to ger the wrong idea about the Waynes. 

"Yeah, Perce? You'll have to tell me about it later." Nico said to let him know he understood.

"Yeah. Look, I gotta go, my mom's gonna flip on me. This ended up on the news and everything. I'll talk to you later." Percy stood to go. Nico nodded, and Alfred showed him to the door. He tried to imagine the conversation that he was going to have with his mother when he got home. Nico didn't want to be him right now. 

"Does he usually fall asleep in dangerous situations?" Bruce asked.

"This isn't really that dangerous by his standards. He was kidnapped when he was twelve, taken across the country by his captor, got in a gun fight with said captor, and nearly died several times." Nico reminded them.

"Where was he?" I inquired, wanting to know if they found my secret compartment.

"He was in the pantry." Nico blinked, then frowned.

"What?"

"Yeah, we found your buddy in the pantry. Asleep, in a tree, during a hostage situation." Jason listed everything suspicious about that event.

"In the pantry..." Nico mumbled thoughtfully. He then shook my head in bewilderment, "I have no clue how he ended up in the pantry. The last place I was with him was in my room when I told him to hide."

"That reminds me. Just how did you manage to end up in the Bat Cave?" Bruce crossed his arms and watched him in analytical interest. Immediately he could tell that Bruce was seething. Nico shrank in on himself-- uncomfortably. He wasn't sure exactly how he was going to diffuse this situation. He couldn't tell them the truth and he wasn't going to insult him with a lie.

"I can't tell you that. I just knew that we needed help, and that was the first place I could think to find any." Nico said truthfully.

"I'm getting a little tired of you saying you can't tell us things," Jason growled. Nico refused to meet anyone's eyes, which he could feel boring into him. His tone hurt, and the overwhelming silence was deafening. He hated it when people were angry with him. it felt like he spent most of his life with people being angry with him. He hated it. 

"What did you see on the computer?" Dick asked finally, breaking the awkward silence.

"Nothing really. Some woman asked what I needed, and I told her to call Diana. Then I tried to find the exit." He recalled. They probably had cameras in the cave. This was probably just a test. 

"Nico, when I found you, you said 'thank the gods' are you polytheistic?" He slowly nodded. The surprise on their faces made him well up with shame. They were going to give him a lecture on theology. At camp he had heard so many different stories of demigods who had been lectured about their religion. He didn't want to deal with that right now. He couldn't ostracize himself from them like that. 

"Bruce, the cave felt different today. What was that about?" Diana cut in randomly. Did she have ADHD? 

"I installed magic dampeners a few months ago. Could that have something to do with that?" He allowed for the deviation. Diana raised her eyebrows. 

"What did you do that for?" Bruce waved her question away. 

"Nico, do you parents have anything to do with this?" 

"Bruce, he cannot tell you more, and you cannot ask it of him. Any more, and his life will be in danger." Diana interrupted.

"We can protect him from these people." Jason spat in annoyance.

"I'm afraid you don't yet know what you are dealing with. Trust me when I say that you cannot expect him to tell you anymore. You have all the clues you need." Diana assured Bruce.

"Can't he keep giving us hints?" Tim asked curiously. Diana shook her head regretfully,

"He would be foolish to jeopardize himself further. He is already close to breaching his vow as it is. He has risked more than his life to tell you as much as he has."

"Is that true?" Bruce questioned gently. Nico watched his shoe as he scuffed it across the floor. He nodded silently in affirmation.

"I absolutely will not answer any more questions," Nico said, not looking at them. He turned and left the silent room, heading back to his bedroom. He didn't feel very well still-- probably from the magic dampeners that Bruce had installed. He didn't have any energy so he decided to take a nap and wasted most of the day that way. Nico only got up to use the restroom or get a drink, then he went right back to sleep.


	17. 21 Questions

It was a long time later when someone interrupted my sulking. That someone happened to be Bruce-- who I still wasn't all that excited to see. I just needed to be alone for a little while. Was that too much to ask for? 

"Nico, if we guess, can you tell us if we're right or wrong?" I shrugged, not really knowing. I supposed that I would be able to. I wasn't telling them and at that point it would become common knowledge which would mean that he is no longer bound by those rules. 

"Probably." Bruce eyed him for a moment before apparently deciding not to comment. 

"So, we've all had a long discussion and here's what we know: your father was neglectful, your mother is dead, your sister died under suspicious circumstances after you ran away from your old school, you know Pamela, you have nearly died several times, you held a grudge against Diana, your friend from camp has gotten expelled almost every year and was the subject of several manhunts, you're not afraid of death, you're afraid of being tied down, and you're polytheistic. Am I missing anything? Oh yeah, and you can probably teleport." Bruce sounded somewhat accusatory as he listed off these things, and I choked when he mentioned teleportation.

"Teleportation?" He tried to sound surprised.

"Yes, Dick reported that you were in the hallway one moment and gone the next. Oh, that reminds me of one more thing, your skin is ice cold." He didn't respond.

"So, your guess?" 

"Are you a Metahuman?"

"No? Wait, what's a metahuman?" Nico asked in total confusion. Bruce explained the concept to him and Nico found it almost laughable. He wasn't some experiment gone wrong. He was closer with a mutant but that still wasn't even close. He was confined to the terms that he was familiar with. Nico doubted that gods or mythology was even on his radar at the moment. He needed a little extra push and Nico didn't mind providing it. 

"No, you have all the clues you need, though. Do some digging, and I bet you can piece it together. My religion is more important than you think." I then ended the conversation by walking into my bathroom to take a hot shower.

++Bruce++ 

With the last push from Nico, Bruce went to the Batcave to research polytheistic religions. Considering Nico knew Diana (who was Greek), it wasn't all that hard to find the most probable one. Nico had something to do with Greece, perhaps even its mythology. It was improbable that Nico was a god or a monster, so that didn't leave many more options. He could have been a Satyr, which was unlikely since he didn't have horns or a green thumb. He could be a cursed soul, or several other humanoids but they didn't seem quite right either, but he was far too solid for that. The last thing that seemed the most likely was that Nico might be a demigod. 

If he were a demigod, it would completely explain his polytheistic ways, how he knew Diana and his parental issues. Apparently, Demigods were hunted and killed by monsters so that would explain his sister's mysterious death, the mysterious summer camp (that Percy also attended), his multiple near-death experiences, and his knowledge of sword fighting. Bruce found an article on the deep web written by one man named Rick Riordan on modern-day demigods. First was a description of tell-tale signs of demigods. They were: ADHD, Dyslexia, and disciplinary issues. All of which seemed to apply to Nico.

Bruce was quite shocked to see a complete series about Nico's best friend Percy Jackson on the site (also written by Rick Riordan) and was even more surprised as he began reading. The book explained how Percy was raised in a poor environment with a loving mother and an alcoholic stepfather. As he read, he was informed of monsters, of gods, of quests, and prophecies. Granted, Bruce didn't read the entire book, but what he did read gave him an idea of the hardships of a demigod's life, and he realized that Nico was lucky to be alive. Perhaps Nico did know how to take care of himself. 

It was impossible to deny now. All of the timelines matched up. Percy's story matched up to real-life events at the times that Riordan had said. Bruce had even met Percy and the resemblance between that Percy and the Percy that had been at the manor was uncanny. There was no way that they weren't the same Percy. That meant that there was no way that Nico wasn't a demigod or a mortal that could see through the mist. If the teleportation theory was holding true, though that made it clear that Nico was a demigod-- and probably a powerful one at that. He'd run the theory by Nico at dinner tonight. 

++Nico++

Nico reluctantly joined the others for dinner when the time came. As they all ate, Bruce was acting kind of smug so he guessed that meant that the older man had figured out his secret. It was about time. Hopefully, he was right this time or this was going to be embarrassing for them all. Nico ate as though he suspected nothing and waited for Bruce to bring the subject up. Finally, after dessert, Bruce brought it up.

"Alright, I have done a little digging," Nico couldn't help but smirk at the wording, "and I am ready to guess as to what you are, Nico." I made the go-on gesture. All of the Batboys watched either Bruce or Nico like they didn't want to miss a single piece of the action.

"You're a Demigod." He said with certainty. Immediately the boys were saying how that was impossible and making other noises of disbelief. Nico, on the other hand, said nothing. Bruce raised a hand for silence, "So, Nico, am I right?" He looked at the other boy's skeptical faces and knew that this was about to be a fun explanation. Hopefully, they wouldn't end up sending him to an asylum for this. 

"I'm Nico di Angelo, Son of Hades, the god of the Underworld," He said in a slightly tired voice. After his proclamation, there was silence. No one seemed to really know what to make of that. Nico's heart sank. They didn't believe him. They were going to say that he was making it up or something. That's the last thing he needed right now. 

" You're being serious?" Damian eyed the older boy skeptically. Nico nodded. 

"I read part of that book about your friend, Perseus? It seems like monsters follow demigods around." Bruce said, implying that he, too, was potential prey.

"Yes, though I promise I wouldn't have stayed here unless I could find a way not to endanger you all. Gotham is protected from the monsters by Dionysus, the god of wine. Because this place already has enough problems of its own, he decided to shield it. So, no monsters can enter the city limits, but they can be spawned here." He explained as best he could. HE was in no way an expert on monsters or the way that they worked. Bruce nodded as if the explanation satisfied him.

"And if you couldn't have found a way to protect us?" Jason asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I would have disappeared a long time ago." 

"We would have found you eventually," Damian said matter-of-factly.

"I highly doubt that. Yes, you are all competent detectives, but I know how to keep myself hidden." He smirked to himself, thinking about how they'd never find him in the Underworld.

"Nico, your sister, was killed by a monster, wasn't she?" Bruce asked gently. He automatically felt uncomfortable. 

"Not exactly. She died saving the members of her quest from the giant automaton named Talos." 

"Talos?" Damian questioned.

"Long story."

"Why don't either of you appear in the system before your term at the military academy?" Bruce inquired. Nico chuckled humorlessly. He had been hoping to avoid this line of questioning for a long time yet. This was going to be more explaining than he had the energy for. 

"We do-- you're just not looking back far enough."

"How far back is far enough?" Dick questioned, frowning.

"1930s roughly. I don't remember the exact date." 

"That's impossible," Tim chimed in, "that would make you about 90 years old."

"Clearly, you are lying." Damian crossed his arms accusingly. Nico wasn't offended and chose to ignore the comment. 

"Roughly 90 years old," he agreed.

"How did you not age? Are you immortal?" Nico hummed in amusement. That was an interesting question. He hadn't thought that that might be how people perceive him. Though he supposed that it made sense. Even before Thalia was officially immortal he had seen her as an immortal because of her time spent as a tree. Even knowing how old she would have been hadn't mattered. To him she would always be ageless. 

"Ha! Not even the immortals aren't completely immortal, but no, I'm not immortal."

"What do you mean immortals aren't immortal?" Tim cried out incredulously at the same time Dick asked,

"If you aren't immortal, why did you stop aging?"

"There is this place in Los Vegas called the Lotus Casino and Hotel. Once you sign in, time basically stops. I was in there about 80 years, but it only felt like a few months had passed inside." Nico explained.

"Like a real-life Hotel California.” Jason mused.

“A what?”

“Nevermind. Why were you there in the first place?" Nico explained how his mother died and the events that lead up to his and Bianca's incarceration. They remained silent through his explanation which was disconcerting. It was a lot to get off his chest. A lot that he hadn't really told anyone else. Not even Percy knew the full story. For some reason, he felt like he could tell them. 

"Hades didn't want me to know this, and he reacted badly when I found out.” He continued once they didn’t say anything when he finished the story. He went on to explain how Hades had wiped their memories and stuck them in the casino.

"80 years later, Alecto the fury came and got us out disguised as a lawyer. She enrolled us in the military academy." After that, He explained to them how he was captured by Dr. Thorn and how Percy and the Hunters of Artemis saved us. That was where he stopped because he didn't want to get back into the broken promise and Bianca's death.

"Correct me if I'm wrong," Dick started, "But I thought Athena and Artemis were maiden goddesses. How could they have children."

"They are. Athena was born from Zeus's skull, and her children are born from her thoughts. Artemis doesn't have any children." I explained.

"What about the Hunters of Artemis?" Dick asked.

"Oh! They're not related to Artemis. Bianca became a Hunter. The Hunters of Artemis are an all-female group that worships Artemis and goes around hunting monsters with the goddess. I can't say I'm a fan because my sister abandoned me for them, and they got her killed on her first quest ever. To be a Hunter, you have to swear off having any relationship with boys ever. In exchange for the oath, they are made partially immortal. The Hunters cannot die unless killed in combat."

"Sounds nice." Dick nodded appreciatively.

"Yes, Artemis's oldest huntress is over 3,000 years old. Her name is Phoebe. There used to be a girl named Zoë Nightshade. She was one of the Hesperides guarding the tree of golden apples. She was much older than Phoebe. She was placed among the stars when she died."

"The golden apples of Heracles?" Damian asked.

"The same myth, yes. I'd rather not talk about that story, though. He was a real jerk to Zoë. He was the entire reason she joined the hunt." Damian nodded, satisfied.

"That old lady from bargain mart. She was a monster, wasn't she?" Dick asked.

Nico couldn't help but look at him in surprise, "You could see her?"

"Yeah, she wore florals. Why?" the demigod chuckled.

"Yes, she was a monster. You only saw what the mist allowed you to see. She's actually a Dracnae. A snake woman. I tricked her into thinking we were on the same side. She still thought the war was going on. She's making Hade's posters now, I think."

"What war?" Jason asked skeptically.

"The war that caused Manhattan to become a dead zone for a day and destroyed a good part of the city. The Second Titan War. Percy led us to victory against Kronos, who was possessing Luke, a son of Hermes. The mist covered up the craziest things, but people still saw the automatons duking it out in the street afterward." Nico smirked, remembering Annabeth showing me a headline in a newspaper.

"You fought in a war?" Tim asked incredulously. The son of Hades nodded seriously, and the subject was abruptly changed.

"What is the mist anyway?" Bruce asked.

"It is a magical veil that keeps mortals from seeing all the supernatural happenings around them. Though, the mist doesn't work on everyone." By this time, he was getting rather tired of explaining himself.

"Ok, ok enough questions for today. We need to adjust and process what we have heard. We can ask more questions later. It's about time that we all go to the living room and watch a movie as a family." Bruce said with a mischievous smile. That was how Nico was dragged into a Star Wars movie marathon. As they watched the movies, Nico realized that a lot of the tension had been lifted through his revelation. They knew that he wasn't lying to them because he had some sort of malicious intent or something. They could trust him again and once again Nico felt comfortable in their presence. He was glad that they were able to work it all out so simply. He didn't want to have to move on again, he was finally starting to get comfortable.


	18. Where's Percy

Nico went to bed late that night with the Imperial March song stuck in his head. Err... the one that came on when Vader came in. 

As he slept, he dreamed. In his dream he was walking around the camp-- which was in chaos. The camp counselors were running everywhere-- seemingly looking for someone. Nico had no idea who they were looking for so he decided to go to the big house to find an answer. When he got there, Chiron was on the phone with someone and he was trying to sound calm.

"It's ok Mrs. Jackson. I'm sure he'll turn up. Yes, if I hear anything I'll let you know." Chiron hung up the phone with Sally Jackson and rubbed his palms down his face.

"Oh Percy, where are you?" Chiron murmured to himself. The son of Hades felt his heart drop. Percy was missing. He heard footsteps on the porch and Annabeth came into the house.

"Has she seen him Chiron?" Annabeth sounded on the verge of tears and he hated to see her so distraught. There were bags under her eyes. It was painfully obvious that she hadn't slept well recently. What was going on with her? 

"No, child. I'm sure he'll turn up, he's a strong hero. Go and get some sleep. You need it." Chiron tried to soothe the girl he saw as a daughter. Annabeth didn't even seem to hear him. 

"What about the gods? Have we heard anything from Olympus yet?" She waved his concern away. She was hyper-focused and there was little that could distract or dissuade her now. 

"No, the gods are remaining silent." Annabeth huffed and stormed out of the room. Chiron seemed to age 300 years in a matter of minutes.

"Oh, Perseus, where are you?" Nico woke up in a cold sweat-- a lingering feeling of dread building up in the pit of his stomach. This could not be happening. He threw the covers off and raced out of the room without even bothering to change. Where is Percy? He must have been kind of loud because he soon heard several sets of feet shuffling around as he raced down the stairs. Nico was about to head out to the greenhouse when someone called out to him.

"Nico? What's going on?" Bruce called tiredly.

"I have to call camp!" The demigod said, his voice betraying his urgency.

"Is everything alright? Are you hurt?" Nico moved into the kitchen to find something to make light with since it was dark outside. Bruce's question didn't even register. 

"Nico, calm down and tell me what's wrong?" Bruce pressed. Nico heard the others reach the kitchen but he couldn't be bothered to look. He didn't find anything in the kitchen to make a rainbow so he moved on to the living room. There was a crystal vase so he grabbed that and brought it into the kitchen. 

"Nico stop." Bruce grabbed my shoulders tightly, holding the boy in place, "What is going on?"

"I have to contact camp." Bruce looked confused.

"With a vase? You know you can use my phone, right?" Nico waved his hand in annoyance and pulled out of the older man's grip.

"Demigods can't use phones! Are you trying to get me eaten?" 

"Eaten?" One of the batboys asked in the background. He couldn't tell which one and at the moment he didn't care. 

"Then how are you going to contact camp?"

"I need a rainbow!" Nico hissed angrily, not caring that he was sounding like a raving lunatic.

"A what?" There were a lot of things that Bruce could roll with. This was not one of them. With all his years of experience, he could not figure out the correlation between rainbows and sending messages. Was this a demigod thing or had Nico just lost it? 

"I need a freaking rainbow!" The son of Hades was highly agitated now. Bruce seemed to understand what he was doing with the vase and asked Tim to go get a prism from the knick-knack cabinet instead. Once he had the prism in his hand he started to calm down. Nico set the prism down in front of a lamp and only allowed himself to breathe once a rainbow had formed. He plucked a Drachma from his pocket and tossed it into the light. Someone cried out in surprise when the coin didn't hit the table.

"Oh Iris goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering, show me Chiron at Camp Half-Blood." The rainbow distorted for a moment before an image of Chiron reading in a wheelchair replaced it.

"Chiron!" Nico called. He looked up from his wheelchair and seemed to be surprised to see him.

"Nico, my boy. What seems to be the matter? You seemed distressed." Chiron looked concerned.

"Where's Percy?" He skipped pleasantries and went straight to the point.

"Wha- I sent him home this afternoon. Why?"

"I had a dream Chiron. He never made it home. He disappeared."

"Nico?" It was Bruce now, "it was probably just a dream.

Chiron finally seemed to notice the Waynes, "Oh, on the contrary. Demigod dreams often predict the future. You haven't... felt anything, have you?" Chiron seemed concerned. Nico shook his head and he sighed in relief, "Thank the gods. Nico, I'll call Sally first thing tomorrow, I promise. Try to go to sleep. If he really has disappeared, he'll need you to be in good shape."

"But if he is about to disappear, then I need to find him now and stop it from happening. What if it was a warning! I have to find him." He pressed. 

"Absolutely not. You're not going anywhere at this time of the night. You don't even know where he went. You wouldn't know where to look." Bruce cut in. 

"What do you mean no?" Nico turned to look at the older man but Chiron drew his attention back to the IM before an argument could break out.

"He's right, my boy. We don't know when or where he was going to disappear. Or if he is going to disappear at all. We can't just have you going into battle on nothing but a whim. Especially not without backup. If Percy is going to disappear as you say, then we can't risk you disappearing too."

"Maybe I would be able to stop it." Nico bit out through clenched teeth. 

"And maybe you would die or disappear yourself." Chiron countered. His voice was getting harder but Nico pressed his luck. 

"But Percy--"

"Is fully capable of taking care of himself and he wouldn't want you to put yourself in danger like this. Stay where you are, Nico." Chiron's voice became stern. Nico had never heard the old centaur sound that authoritative. He hated how young and insignificant it made him feel. How could he stand up to this 3,000-year-old teacher? He had taught heroes that outclassed the son of Hades in every way. There was no winning. Chiron swiped his hand through the image without waiting for a response. They both knew that Nico wasn't going to defy one of the only men he respected. 

"Nico, do you mind telling the rest of us what the hell just happened?" Bruce said, both tired and annoyed at the same time. Nico opened his mouth to explain when the last member of the family decided to make his presence known,

"I believe these types of explanations can wait until tomorrow. Wouldn't you agree, Master Bruce?" Alfred stated dryly.

"Sure Alfred." Bruce said defeatedly, "Alright, off to bed all of you." 

Nico did not sleep. He spent the rest of the night laying in bed and considering the consequences of Percy disappearing. The oceans would suffer because of Poseidon's grief, Camp would be miserable, Annabeth would be miserable, he would be miserable. Sally and Paul... Rachel... Bob. Percy had touched so many lives up to this point. It was impossible to tell just how far the ripple of his disappearance would travel. Nico felt like throwing up. 

He groggily hauled himself into his bathroom and sat up against the side of the bathtub. He didn't want to have to make a break for the toilet if he did end up getting sick. He rested his head on his knees and tried to keep his breaths even. He didn't want to start hyperventilating now. He needed to be doing something. He should be doing something. If Percy ended up disappearing tonight and he actually knew about it ahead of time and did nothing-- he didn't know how he could live with himself. Especially if Percy turned up dead. How could he look Annebeth in the face and tell her that he ignored his gut because Chiron told him to? How could he ever show his face at camp again? If the campers didn't hate him before, they would now. 

That's when the tears came. He should have just left and dealt with the consequences later. Yes, he may have died, but that would be better than never knowing if there had been anything he could have done. Was there still time to go searching? Where would he even start? Was he too late? All he really knew is that Chiron had sent him home. He could be anywhere between Long Island Sound and Manhatten by now. That was a lot of space to cover and he was only one person. There was no one he could can this early either. And what if he ended up being wrong and had gotten everyone all worked up over nothing? No-- he couldn't do that. 

Nico was finally able to return to his bed and get a few fitful hours of sleep. When he did wake up, he barely spared enough time to change into regular clothes before he raced outside to the greenhouse. He couldn't wait any longer. the anxiety at the pit of his stomach was eating away at him. He had to know. As soon as it was light enough to create a rainbow, Nico Iris Messaged Chiron. 

"Nico! I hate to say it, but Percy is indeed missing. He never made it home last night. Sally's going to file a missing person's report. I still have hope, but will you check the Underworld?" Chiron looked older than Nico had ever seen him. He bit back the urge to say 'I told you so'. That wouldn't help now and Chiron already seemed to be feeling horrible as it was. 

I nodded grimly, "Yeah, sure Chiron. I'll get everyone I can on the job. Do Thalia and Annabeth know?"

"No, I'll tell Annabeth at lunch. I have little doubt that Annabeth will ask Thalia to look out for Percy herself." Nico nodded in agreement.

"I just wish I could've prevented it." 

"We couldn't risk it, Nico. Go, check your father's domain." Chiron advised. Nico nodded and cut off the call. He headed back inside. Once Nico got to the dining room, everyone had already gathered at the kitchen table. They all looked up as Nico came in and Bruce's gaze was expectant. He sighed, not really ready to explain the frenzy he was in the night before. He didn't have the emotional energy for a long and involved discussion this morning. 

"So, I guess you want to know about last night." He avoided eye contact with Bruce.

"That would be nice, yes." Batman agreed. The son of Hades figured that was the persona Bruce was most like now. This must be an interrogation, then. 

"Well, I had a dream that Percy disappeared. Demigod dreams show events that either are happening or are going to happen. This morning, I contacted Chiron and Percy has, in fact, disappeared." He sat down heavily in my seat.

"Is there anything we can do?" Dick spoke up. Nico shook his head.

"No, not even the gods will do anything because, if my dream is correct, then Olympus is on lockdown."

"There has to be something we can do." Tim said reasonably, "We can look for him."

"You could, but first I promised Chiron I would check the Underworld," He explained.

"You think he might be dead?" Bruce sounded unsurprised at this, people don't normally disappear.

"I didn't sense him die but that doesn't mean too much." 

"You can sense people when they die?" Jason seemed more interested than disgusted which was something.

"Yeah, I can also reanimate the dead, talk to and summon ghosts, shadow travel, and I know a lot of facts about death and how to kill people," He admitted. The last thing he wanted to do was to taint his image in these people's eyes. They didn't know how much of a freak he was yet. Would they still harbor him if they knew? Batman had a strict no-kill policy and Nico's powers were a direct violation of that. Would that mean that he wouldn't let him use his powers? Would he get mad or punish him if he did? Did killing monsters count? 

"So you know that I..." Jason trailed off.

"That you died once before? Yes, Thanatos wasn't very happy with Ra's over that. Don't worry, I haven't been sent to collect your soul yet." Nico said passively. He wanted to spare their feelings and his reputation but he didn't have the energy to censor himself at the moment. 

"Wha...? Sent to collect my soul?" Jason sounded appalled now. Nico waved his hand dismissively and picked at a strip of bacon with a fork. 

"Yes yes. Hades sends me out to help Thanatos collect souls who cheat death and ones who escape back into the land of the living. Anyways back to Percy. I'm going to the Underworld to search for him." He announced.

"You most certainly are not." Bruce countered firmly. Nico was surprised, he hadn't expected to be opposed.

"What do you mean no? I have to see if he's dead or not!" He cried indignantly. Nico wasn't sure what he would do if Bruce forbade him from going. What would Bruce do if he defied him? Would the punishment be worth it? There was no way that Nico could just not check. He owed the camp that much at the very least. 

"You're not going to the Underworld! Do you hear how crazy that sounds?" Bruce argued. It was then that he realized what was wrong. Bruce didn't understand that he could stay or go as he pleased. Nico laughed lightly at the misunderstanding.

"Don't worry about me, I go in and out of the Underworld all the time! I practically live there most of the time, especially during the school year when the campers are at school. I'm not in any danger." Nico assured the older man. Bruce looked uncomfortable with the amount of time the demigod spent in the Underworld.

"Are you sure?" He questioned skeptically.

"Well, mostly out of danger. It depends on what kind of mood the furies are in. Usually, they leave me alone." He said thinking about how Alecto hated me wandering around the different fields.

"Nico," Bruce said, his tone laced in a warning.

"I'll be fine." He sighed.

"What about your father?" 

Nico hesitated at that, "What about him?"

"Are you in danger from him?" Bruce asked seriously. Nico thought about it for a minute. He might be upset that they guessed the secret but he couldn't be sure. He was sure that Hades would be furious if he found out about Hazel, though. Was there any way that he would know? He should be in and out quickly enough that he wouldn't know that he was there. He shouldn't be in danger.

"I don't think so, I haven't done anything to piss him off lately. He might not be so happy that you all know the secret but I don't think I'll be in danger." He replied after some thought.

"Are you planning on leaving now?" Bruce asked, accepting his answer. Nico nodded, "when should we expect you back?"

"Hard to say, time runs differently in the Underworld. If I'm not back by nightfall, something probably happened and you will need to contact Diana." He said-- knowing that Diana could understand the mythological world a lot better than the bat fam. Nico said his goodbyes then ran through the shadows made by the fridge. On the other side of the shadows, was Hades’ Palace itself. More specifically, he was in front of the doors to the throne room. Nico had no idea how he had gotten here since he had been picturing the fields of asphodel. He was about to turn to sneak away when the doors were opened by the dead confederates. At the far end of the throne room, Hades beckoned him in. So much for not seeing his father.

"Nico, I see that the Wayne's have figured it out." Nico bowed respectfully. The god of the Underworld was annoyed. 

“ You said that they could figure it out as long as I got them to take an oath of secrecy!” Nico defended himself. He didn’t think that this was a fair criticism.

“Yes! If they figured it out. I didn’t tell you that you could basically lead them to the secret!” He bellowed. Nico averted my gaze and seethed in silence. There was no point in arguing with a god.

"Yes, father," He said tiredly.

"Do not forget to have them swear to secrecy. It would not do for your secret to get out to anyone else."

"I won't fail you, father." 

"Hmm," Hades didn't sound convinced, "Yes, well. What brings you to the Underworld? I presume it isn't to remove any more souls?" Hades' voice was cold and his eyes were hard and narrow. 

"Look, I..." Hades cut his son off with a wave of his hand.

"I don't want to hear your excuses. It is unacceptable to bring people back to life, you of all people should know that. I presume that she told you her origin as a Roman?" Nico nodded, still afraid he was going to be turned into a grease spot. Hades would be perfectly within his rights to do so. He had almost done it once before already and it was for a much smaller infraction. Had he finally pushed his father's patience too far?

"Congratulations! You just became her sponsor. If she does anything dishonorable, you both shall pay for it. Do you understand that Nico? You're lucky, I have the right to smite you for this." 

"Yes, my lord, I understand," He replied-- relieved.

"Fortunately for you, I am very pleased to see my daughter alive again. Thank you for giving her a second chance." Hades said in a sentimental tone. Nico dipped my head, accepting the praise. He was no longer too confused by his father's shifting moods.

"Good, now just what brought you to the Underworld."

"I wanted to see if Percy Jackson had died," Hades growled at the name, he still hadn't gotten over being beaten on his own turf.

"He has not entered my domain," Hades said distastefully.

"Thank you, father." Hades made a shooing motion that Nico took as a dismissal. He bowed again and began to leave the room. Before he could Hades called out to him, "and Nico, if you come here without your body, I will be very displeased."

Nico shadow traveling to his room at the manor. He collapsed on the floor, happy that he made it out of there alive. He laid on my floor breathing heavily from both adrenaline and the amount of effort 2 long shadow jumps directly in a row took. To the Underworld no less. His mouth tasted like metal and his tongue felt like lead. He heard footsteps coming through the hall and Bruce entered the younger's room with a stack of blankets. When his eyes landed on Nico, he hurried over to kneel beside the son of Hades. His face looked concerned and the demigod wondered just how bad he looked.

"Are you alright?" Nico nodded weakly. He needed nectar and ambrosia but he was a little too tired for speech. Bruce picked him up bridal style from the floor and began to carry him out of the room. He tried to struggle but the adrenaline rush was fading, leaving him exhausted. It was all he could do to stay awake. He wanted to tell them to give him ambrosia but he was fading in and out of consciousness and only caught a little of what was going on.

"Is he alright, father?"

"What happened to him?"

"My word, go lay him in the sickbay please, Master Bruce. I'll be there momentarily." Nico hated being seen like this, especially around these people, but he couldn't resist in the state he was in. Bruce took him down to the dimly lit Batcave and laid him on an empty table. Why was he so tired? Was he really just that weak? So weak that he couldn't make two shadow jumps back and forth from the Underworld? Being in the Batcave only seemed to make it worse. Maybe it was something about the cave itself, but soon he was hardly able to keep his eyes open. 

Alfred came into his line of sight but he couldn't see what was holding, making him feel a bit panicky. He was struggling to keep his eyes open which was also making it hard to see. Bruce propped the table that was supporting his upper body up so that he could see what was happening. Alfred was messing with a bag of clear fluid that he had never seen before. He hung it up on a rolling stake so that the liquid flowed through a tube. On the end of the tube, there was a needle. Alfred took the needle part and started to move closer to me with it. Nico started struggling weakly, not having any idea what an IV was.

"Nico, calm down, this is supposed to make sure you get all the nutrients you need. We have no idea what those teleportations did to you. I don't want to sedate you, but I will if I have to. Neither of us wants that so just try to relax. Trust us."

Nico chuckled dryly, "Trust can get you killed where I'm from. Especially if you trust someone with your life." Bruce didn't try to calm the demigod down anymore, he just explained what they were doing until he fell asleep. He woke up sometime later, still weak and a bit dizzy. He did feel somewhat better than he had, but it was also clear that he needed nectar and ambrosia. He needed someone to come and get all these wires and stuff off of him. Nico got impatient and pulled a clip off of his index finger and the machine started screaming at him. In moments Bruce was at his side and gently holding his wrists to keep him from ripping everything off. 

"Hold still for a second. I'll help you get these things off." Nico relaxed onto the hard surface. 

"How are you feeling?" Bruce asked as he removed the tube from my arm. 

"Weak. I shouldn't be this weak." Nico sat up and his vision swam. 

"Weak? You did just teleport twice in a row." 

"Shadow travel," Nico corrected, "and that shouldn't have made me this tired."

"What could be causing it?" Bruce frowned. 

"I don't know. It's worse in the Batcave."

"It's worse?" Nico nodded. 

"It might be the magic dampeners that I installed. They are meant to level the playing field if a magical being were to enter the cave. I thought it would just prevent them from using magic or powers. I didn't realize that it would drain your magic passively." The vigilante made his way to a control panel along the wall and pressed a series of buttons. Nico couldn't tell what he was doing from where he was, but he hoped he was doing something about the stupid magic dampeners. 

"There, I took them offline. but with a flick of a switch, I can turn them back on if I need to." Bruce glanced back at Nico-- who was already looking more awake. 

"That's better," he replied, "Thanks for the medical attention and everything but I only really needed some nectar and ambrosia." Bruce looked at him in confusion so he explained the godly foods to him.

"So you eat a little and you heal, eat too much and you spontaneously combust?" Bruce asked, appalled.

"Pretty much." he agreed, sitting up. Bruce shook his head, apparently deciding not to question it.

"So, what did you find out while you were in the Underworld?" Bruce asked. Nico explained everything that happened except why Hades was mad at him. He told him it was because he forgot to have them swear on the Styx. At which point in time Bruce asked about the oaths and agreed to take an oath as well.

"Well, at least Percy isn't dead," Bruce said as Nico finished his explanation. The son of Hades nodded in agreement.

"Come on, you've had a busy day. Let's go eat dinner and you can explain those weird face-time things you do. Bruce smiled and began leading the way back up to the manor.


End file.
